You seem to find a lot of interesting stuff, if you just keep reading. I found this quite by accident. Still pretty awesome though:

"Houkou, or the Gobi, is a five tailed beast demon that resembles a dog. It has white fur, and each of its tails contains a specific elemental power- water, fire, earth, air, and lightning. When used all together, they create an earthquake. Houkou will destroy nature for its own gain. Houkou is considered to be the 'God of Illusion', and lives within a giant tree, where it can recover. It once formed an alliance with the Nekomata and attacked the Kyuubi, however, it received a wound from the battle and retreated back to its tree to heal."

Well, enough with all that. Sorry for the lateness.

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Luv: Temple of Doom Crazy Party

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Naruto… you really have a knack for falling unconscious in strange positions.

Hinata decided that the afterlife was a very strange place after all. She couldn't see anything, couldn't feel very much either, and she didn't seem to be able to move her sluggish body much. All she could do was listen.

Shut up, Sensei! What do you know!

First time was when we met Haku. You fell unconscious standing up. Then there was that party we had at Tatzuemon's shack. You got drunk and fell unconscious curled up in a ball like a puppy. Now there's this. You fell unconscious on your back with your legs in that messed up position. Then there was the time with bathroom in the restaurant, where you misjudged the height-

ENOUGH!

Still…I'm surprised you recover so fast, Naruto.

Ah… I guess it's because of my…tenant, Haku.

Hmmm…

Bah… Naruto, you lucky dog. Even I can't recover that fast.

Ha! Looks like one more thing I totally own you in, sensei! Anyways…how much further is it to Tatzuemon's place? I'm sort of getting tired of looking at that old man's sorry shape.

The idea that Hinata was hearing about Hanzo made her jerk in surprise suddenly. Suddenly the afterlife didn't seem so real after all. In fact, it appeared the Hyuuga was bound up rather well. Eyes blindfolded, mouth covered, limbs bound so she could only lie limp on the ground. Even her fingers were trussed up, so the kunoichi couldn't move them into handseals, or even activate Byakugan.

She could almost hear her father's voice admonishing her for being the Heiress, but still being so weak she still had to activate her Bloodlimit with hand seals. This certainly proved it. Her side also suddenly split with pain. Apparently her injury wasn't enough to rid her existence. Either that, or the samurai decided to keep her alive.

"Egad! The White Witch lives!" (Chapter 903, Volume 87) The oldest voice shrieked dramatically. If she remembered, Hinata thought the man introduced himself at "Tetsuya".

"Sensei, shut up." This one was the boy's voice. He called himself… Uzumaki… something…

"I'm still curious as to why we went out of the way to administer to the wounds she received, Tetsuya-sensei." That one was definitely Haku's voice. She introduced herself (twice) with that name.

"Yeah! We nearly wasted all the crap on her. We practically had to root through her stuff as well to find more bandages!"

Something suddenly grabbed Hinata's form then, before crushing its weight against it and encircling around her (also injured) waist.

"Isn't White Witch the CUTEST thing?" Tetsuya squealed. Tetsuya, apparently, also proceeded to rub his face against the top of Hinata's head.

Thank God for her jacket, or her privacy would have been a little too invaded.

Something else pulled Tetsuya off the shocked Kunoichi then.

"Sensei! You pervert! What happened to you!"

"Sorry… she just kind of looks… pillowy in that jacket… wait, you like her, Naruto?" Tetsuya's teasing voice picked out.

"WHAT? She's a ninja! We don't associate with their type!"

"You defended her from me. You liiiiiiike her, dontcha… heh."

"Naruto did that because you both disturbed us equally with that action. I would have done the same, except Naruto reacts faster and was closer."

"Stop being so weird, sensei!"

"Okay, okay. Anyways… why we're keeping that girl. Two reasons. One is as a hostage."

Hinata's stomach sank at the reminder of her failure, and how she was paying for it now.

"It was Haku's first time using that technique. I don't trust unpracticed techniques. The rest of that team of ninjas will be back. I know it. I want to make sure they keep some distance from us. If they get close, gut her."

Hinata really wished her stomach could sink a little further. At least it'd prove she wasn't enjoying that prospect.

"Hai."

"Hai."

"So, sensei… the other reason?"

"She's Hyuuga."

Oh, God… no…

"What the hell's a Hyuuga?"

"A very noble family from Konoha. Very powerful. They got a very popular power in the wanted Bloodlimits by all Shinobi Nations. Not only that, she doesn't have that seal which destroys the brain and eyes upon activation. That makes her in the higher up of her clan. We got ourselves an aristocratic ninja, heh."

"Tetsuya-sensei, do you mean that you possibly intend to-"

"I hear Lightning Country's dying to have a living Hyuuga for research. Think of it."

Hinata could almost feel the grin from Tetsuya's position. Some things you didn't even need eyes for. She shivered hard at the fate awaiting her.

"Oi, sensei. Since when did we ever get into this sort of business?"

"Come one Naruto! She's enough money to look after our daily lives for a couple months at least. Live on the run, and all."

"Tetsuya-sensei. I am merely curious. Was there ever a time when border-line slave trade was upheld by samurai?"

"Er… I don't remember! The point's moot! We will discuss and finalize the debate about the ethics of borderline slave trade at a later date! Until then, don't ruin the mood with philosophy, Haku!"

"That wasn't a philo-"

"Until then, don't ruin the mood with philosophy, HAKU!"

There was some grumbling, but by then, Hinata had already felt the uncontrollable urge to lose consciousness. Her last thoughts were divided up between nightmares in Cloud, failing her team, and wondering if her sleepiness was from having the pain medication she brought, being used against her.

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A fitful slumber for all later, and the morning arose. Hinata figured this out when she felt a foot lightly drop itself on top of her head to rouse her. The samurai filed out after the sounds of a double-quick breakfast, taking their prisoners with them, as they should. Hinata couldn't tell what happened to Hanzo, but she herself was hoisted up and carried over the shoulder by Tetsuya again, this time without any of his disturbing flair.

But she still couldn't move her fingers, meaning she couldn't turn on Byakugan, meaning she even couldn't see where she was going.

Her, a Hyuuga, not being able to see where she was going! For shame! What sort of horrible team member was she if she couldn't even tell where she was or tell her comrades where she was?

"Totally victory man/ beat down ninjas, beat down fat men/ calls for sake! Yeah/" Tetsuya roared out jovially. Apparently this was the first time in a while the samurai took a big job with success.

"Tetsuya-sensei," Haku's voice drifted backwards to Hinata's ears, meaning she was being carried backwards, "Are you trying to make up a Haiku?"

"…yeah?"

"That didn't follow the five-seven-five organization."

"Fine! How about this, lady scholar!" Tetsuya snorted. Another wailing discordant, and poorly metered haiku was thundered out, and another after that, as the female samurai and her teacher fought with tongue for the mastery of the art of poetry.

Naruto's voice sighed to Hinata, meaning he was trailing in the back and facing her.

"Not much of a teacher at first glance, huh, ninja?" Hinata jerked her head up to face Naruto's voice, even though she couldn't see him, "Like I say, you're a nice girl. It really sucks that you had to stay and fight… man, now you're probably going to get sold off to a bunch of perverts. What a waste."

Hinata was about to subconsciously come up with a veritable 'thanks for the reminder, asshole', when Tetsuya threw her up slightly to get a better grip, causing the impact to irritate the injury on her side. Hinata's face could be easily seen wincing.

"Oi, Naruto. Stop fraternizing with the ninja. The shock of the event is going to make me drop her."

"So?"

"What if I drop her on the head. Something bad might happen."

"Since when did you become such a cheapskate?"

Hinata felt herself spin, meaning Tetsuya turned around to face Naruto. "Since we got a freaking Hyuuga! HE-YOUUUUU-GA!"

"Okay! Okay! Stop acting like a retard, already sensei!"

"Naruto, Tetsuya-sensei. Stop that. We're nearly there." Haku's voice shot down the argument like a mother.

Tetsuya's voice brightened up immeadiately, "What? Really! Let's go! You old man, hoof it!"

There was a sound of a groan and a kick, and the party moved forward

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"TA-DAI-MA!" Tetsuya roared as he tromped his way through the brush and into the open air of the bandit's temple/headquarters. Several of the rogues quickly scattered in murmured to each other in surprise.

Tatzuemon quickly came out into the open as well, given the loud greeting. "Oh, you're back already? Good job!"

As Haku kicked Hanzo from behind, forcing him to one knee, the elderly businessman glared up at Tatzuemon.

"You…"

Tatzuemon grinned, "You should at least have enough courtesy to greet the one who now owns your life."

"My god! Are you still holding hatred just because I bought-"

"Just because you bought? That just goes to show how ignorant you are. That old life was entirely held up by my livelihood. Which you just monopolized over!"

"We're both business men! I though you had a better attitude than that!"

"Shut up! I've been waiting for a long time to tie up this loose end."

"And what do you plan to do?"

"Simple! I'll just keep your for ransom, until I grow bored, then I'll force you to liquidate all your assets. Then you'll understand what it was like for me."

"A revenge plot without murder… how thoughtful." Haku thought quietly to herself.

Tetsuya whistled, while dropping the bound ninja from his shoulder to the ground with a heavy thud. "That's some complicated shit."

At a wave of an arm and a 'take him away!', Tatzuemon's flunkies dragged Hanzo away, leaving the businessman-gone-bandit with the samurai. As sunlight bounced off the man's lenses, he gave a surprised look as he saw the ninja lying on the ground.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"Safety precautions. For the ninjas." Tetsuya nodded. Tatzuemon listened to this while pulling up the kunoichi's head by the hair, releasing a muffled sound from her. A momentary inspection, and he dropped her down again.

"I see."

"Anyways, the job's done and all. Can we go and get our money now? It's best for us not to stick in one place for too long." Naruto quickly said.

"You can if you want. But you are my esteemed guests! I was thinking of holding a small celebration party tonight. There'll be food, drinks, and so on." Tatzuemon grinned, "Just stay for the night! You can leave in the morning if you want."

"I wouldn't mind staying a night more here, Tetsuya-sensei."

"Eh, if you say so." Tetsuya shrugged. He nudged a foot at the immobile ninja on the ground, "Just stick her wherever you put the old man, and keep them both bound up tight."

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The day passed rather quickly after that, and as night fell with a mostly full moon in the sky, a fire brimmed in the temple and the sound of drunken joviality sounded through the building.

Among others, Tetsuya was the first to plaster himself, now indiscriminately dancing half-naked to the tune of his horrendously self-composed ode to Super Shiny Spinny Attack. The song, though, was apparently still feasible to dance to, as several other men were joining in, while still more clapped and laughed from the outside. Even Haku, despite her reserved nature, was good-naturedly smiling and clapping with everyone else.

She was a bit red in the face, though. That might account for something.

Two particulars were missing out on the celebration, though. In a small room connected to the main chamber, Hinata and Hanzo sat, still trussed up rather well.

"Kunoichi… are you alright?" Hanzo tentatively asked. Hinata, eyes and mouths still bound, nodded. A strange shamefulness seemed to fall upon her her shoulders continued to droop under the metaphysical weight.

The wood door slid open then. Hanzo looked up with a bit of surprise, especially at the sight of Naruto, a pitcher dangling from one of his fingers.

"And what are you doing here? Come to gloat at your victory, samurai?"

The boy shrugged, "The party gets boring to me after everybody gets drunk. I decided to relax a little and check on you guys."

"Well, we're not fine, thank you very much. Now if you would just loose these ropes a little…"

"Heh, you've sure got a temper." The blonde then turned his attention to Hinata. While he would never admit or show it, he always felt something softening whenever he regarded her pitiful state.

Naruto sighed as he crouched down, "Don't move." He quickly pulled the knots free around the cloths that held her face captive, internally mumbling the entire time.

This feeling… means she's going to kill me one day I swear. I'll be all soft, and she'll be all palm-slapping me to death… ninjas…

As Naruto pulled away the cloth from Hinata's eyes, they finally got to see each other for longer than five seconds, without the urge to kill each other.

There was a momentary silence. Momentary.

"You know… you put up a pretty good fight, kunoichi."

"…I still failed…"

"Man, but you're still pretty spineless. You're just going to lie down and die?" Naruto couldn't help but sneer at this weakness.

"What?"

"That's the problem with you ninja," Naruto noted as he leaned back against the side of the doorframe, while taking a small swig out of whatever was in the pitcher, "If there's something you don't like, you either ignore it or just do the best you can with it."

"…then… what about you? What if you don't like something…?"

"Simple. I just do what the three of us always lived by."

"And what's that?" Hanzo decided to cynically input. Naruto didn't care though.

"Do the whatever the hell you can until you fix it. Fight it tooth and nail."

"But-but what if you die?"

"Eh… at least I'll know I died doing something, unlike you, kunoichi."

Who knows why the two of them were fraternizing since they first met. But there always was this strange connection between them from the get go.

Hinata spoke up again, "But I'm… too weak…"

"So… you're going to take that lying down as well?"

"Naaaaruto! Stop fratenerrerwehebr… with the girlfriend! Rwar!" Tetsuya's raging drunken tone came out from the din towards the blonde samurai. Trust the man to still be gifted with his demonic vision, even when he's drunk. Naruto shrugged with an affirmative and got up.

"Hey, kunoichi."

"…yes?"

"Even with the whole pep-talk, I shouldn't get to cozy with you. If sensei still wants it, you're still probably going to get sold off to Cloud."

The orange-clad swordsman closed the door on that, reaffirming the fears in Hinata once more.

But still…

Are you going to take that lying down as well?

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With the morning, everything horrible that came with drinking parties arrived.

Including ninjas.

"Boss! Boss! Tatzuemon!" A man emerged from the usual path out the forest shrieking such.

When word reached the boss, it went something like this-

"We were out in the forest taking a piss, when a bunch of ninja jumped us! I managed to get away, but I think they're heading this way!"

"WHAT? TETSUYA!"

Tetsuya was promptly dragged out from his attempt to drown his hangover in the garden pool again.

"Inukage Tetsuya! Ninja are approaching us! What will you do?"

Both the elder samurai's students, being roused and among the crowd ringing the cross-legged man, gave their noise of shock. Or at least Naruto did.

"Eh? Those ninja bastards are coming?"

"That's strange. The time it took them to track us is almost impossible…"

The bandits again were in a frenzy at their future. What a way to go.

"Everybody shut up! Too loud! I've got a HANG OVER!" Tetsuya roared. There was a silence. As the samurai kneaded his fingers around the bridge of his nose, he slowly planned what to do.

"I want everybody outside now… weapons and anything else that's of use. I want somebody to bring the two prisoners into this building…"

"Let's go!" Somebody shouted. People stamped to and fro gather their defense, while Tetsuya merely grimaced.

Couldn't they do this any quieter?

"What's going on?" Hanzo demanded as a group of more bandits dragged the pair of hostages to sit in front of the samurai and Tatzuemon, who remained behind as well.

"Apparently, your ninja have arrived to save the day." Tatzuemon duly answered.

"They're coming?" Hinata repeated. They didn't even need my help…

"That's not going to change anything." The Inukage groaned.

"W-what?"

"They're still going to deal with all of us, and I will personally make sure all three of them are dead before they even set foot on the doorstep of this place! Let's go!"

With that, Tetsuya marched off. Haku followed after, while Naruto strayed for a second with a bit of a carefree grin.

"Sorry. Later."

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Tetsuya was again on the ground, cross-legged, trying to work the pain out of the bridge of his nose. Scattered around the open air was the entirety of the organization of thieves and rogues.

"Haku."

"Yes Tetsuya-sensei?"

"How the hell do you not get hangovers? You drank as well last night."

"Moderation."

"Moderation was what got Light Green Ranger killed in Chapter 674."

"Oi! Sensei! Stop acting stupid! We need to win for once!"

"Yeh, yeh. Anyways, I can see them coming through the woods soon enough. Everybody get ready. One of them is preparing a jutsu."

Everybody tensed up, raising swords of every kind. The silence of expectation would soon reach a cutting thickness as they waited on.

"Hey… isn't it getting a little hot here?" Somebody murmured. That was true, the air seemed to be getting a little warm-

The innards of the forest lit up as jets of flames burst past the trees and flooding entire groups of men in hell flame. The searing pain and horror of themselves getting burned alive easily made the screams of terror rise into the air. Several men, even as they slowly burned to ash, tried to escape into the un-scorched woods behind them.

All through this, Tetsuya raised an eyebrow. As far as he was concerned everybody just started screaming and falling down and running away like little girls.

Fuck. A mass genjutsu. I should have known. Looks like it's just us now. Tetsuya turned his head to see Haku and Naruto still on the ground, screaming. Thank god they stayed behind.

The Inukage struck the two of them in the shoulders with his two fingers, chakra emitting from each. The moment he contacted them, their visions of hell flame ended.

"T…Tetsuya-sensei… what was that…"

"High level genjutsu. It's definitely them all right. Stick close to me till they arrive."

At that, Kurenai burst through the treetop and landed easily on all fours in front of them. Kiba and Shino landed in a similar fashion near her.

"Yo." Naruto greeted.

"Welcome, Shinobi." Haku also said in turn.

Kurenai gave a rather fierce glare at the trio, "Where are they?"

"Who knows?" Tetsuya muttered into his pinching hand. The hand then moved to his sword to pull it free slightly, letting the sun glint off its clean surface, "I usually am in the habit of cleaning my sword after battle, so who knows whose blood was last spilt on it? Either way…"

Tetsuya uneasily moved to his feet, his head still trying to split itself in two. "Naruto, Haku. Go secure the rear. I'll handle this."

"Tetsuya-sensei?"

"Sensei! What the hell? Are you making us run away?"

"If I wanted you to run away, I would have said that. I said for you two to secure the rear. Now GO!"

The two samurai students choked on the unusual fierceness of Tetsuya's shout, before quickly jumping onto the roof of the temple.

Kurenai watched with vague interest before looking back at the remaining enemy. "Why did you call them off?"

"Hey, you should be thanking me. Three on one is hardly fair for you." As Tetsuya's right arm slid through the sleeve on his cloak once more, the hand emerged with two kunai clenched in it. With a fierce toss, the two knives made their way into the face of each of Kurenai's genin students.

Shino burst apart into a mass of insects, and Kiba exploded into smoke, revealing in its wake a small growling puppy with the kunai caught in its teeth.

"So, you can see through bunshins as well…" Kurenai couldn't help but sardonically smirk.

"Well, like I say, it wouldn't be honorable of the three of us samurai to fight only you, when your little baby ninjas are out and running about. Now, let's see if those ninja smarts can save you, jounin."

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Tetsuya-sensei. I misunderstood and underestimated you. Forgive me…

Haku easily flipped through the air, and fell blade first on the insect using ninja that appeared on the roof. Shino easily raised his own small blade to block the falling icy sword before sliding backwards from another slash aimed at his waist.

As the two stood on the roof, they both waited for each other.

"I'm curious, ninja. How did you track us so quickly?"

Shino raised a curled finger into the air. Immediately an insect Haku swore appeared out of nowhere, crawled off her shoulder and flew silently towards the Shino's blank gaze.

"In our previous battle, I took preliminary cautions and planted her on you. Females of this species release a scent that I can detect. The shinobi with the dog also happens to be an excellent tracker."

Haku gave a false charming smile, "How frightening."

"Now that we have reestablished contact with you, I will kill you and secure the kunoichi and the target you kidnapped."

"We'll see what comes."

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A group of about 8 ruffians with swords surrounded Hinata and Hanzo. All of the armed men were fixated with the echoes of weapons clashing and footsteps that seemed to come from the ceiling above them.

"Oi… what did you think all that screaming outside was about?"

"I dunno, but if those ninja did it, those samurai are screwed."

"Don't say that! That Tetsuya guy is pretty strong right?"

"But they're still samurai, though. Ninjas just need to pop a fireball or whatever, and they're toast."

Just then, the wood wall at the far end of the room behind the men exploded into wreckage, as a drill bit of pure flesh, bone, teeth, and nails charged forwards.

"GATSUUGA!" The drill screamed at the men, just before smashing into one right on and continuing onwards. The spinning air around the whirling mess was so strong that it literally dragged all the men off their feet and threw them through the air, even when they weren't even in the direct path of the Piercing Fang. The attack flew through the air over the hostage's head, and slowed to a stop just ahead of them. Sliding to a halt in place of the Gatsuuga was Kiba, carrying a grin.

"Kiba!"

"Hina! You're alright!"

"Um…yes… quick! Get us out of these!"

"Well… duh…" Kiba always seemed to take a little more care in his tone of voice around her. Hina's feelings could easily get hurt. Running over to the tied up pair, a quick slice easily cut through the majority of the ropes, allowing them to shrug the rest of the tight cords off. As the Hyuuga kunoichi got to her feet, she immediately winced, her side folding on her healing would.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Kiba asked, concerned.

"It's… just a wound I received for being careless. My fault."

"Don't talk like that-"

"Son of a bitch!"

Kiba turned abruptly to see the 8 men he had bowled over were getting to their feet, regaining their senses and giving very dangerous looks at the rescue group. The Inuzuka immediately moved to cover Hinata and Hanzo, another big grin on his face.

Alright! Fight time! "Thanks for being Mr. Obvious, stupid!" Kiba sneered back, taking nothing short of pride in his family.

"You bastard! We'll gut you for ruining our house!"

"Your house? What the hell's this? A frat-house or something?"

"You…" The men were practically shaking in rage at the nonchalance of the ninja.

"Hey Hinata." Kiba's faintly whispered.

"Yes?" "Take Hanzo and go out the hole behind us. Head for the woods. I'll handle these guys"

"…Okay…"

"Alright…Come one you pricks! I'll take you all at once!"

A familiar boy's voice stopped the ensuing fight, "Don't."

The bandit's turned around and their expressions turned into something of fearful awe. "Naruto…"

The blonde swordsman stepped into view from out of the side, and passed the men, "Go outside and help the others. I'll handle this." With that, Naruto reached for his sword that was tied to his back and easily loosened the weapon. It dropped to the ground and stood by his feet with one hand holding the sword.

"R-right. See you outside Naruto…" The bandits left through the front door, momentarily revealing on the other side, Kurenai and Tetsuya dancing across the terrace.

"So, you're here to save the day?" Naurto sarcastically toned.

Kiba immediately raised a fist at the samurai. "Prick! So it was you that hurt… her!"

"Yeah, thanks for being Mr. Obvious, stupid" Naruto repeated, much to the other boy's chagrin.

"Yeah, well keep talking out of your ass! I'm here to teach you a lesson for ever messing with us."

"Go ahead." The blonde growled out. Kiba momentarily turned his head towards his teammate.

"Go, now! I'll cover you!"

With that Hinata grabbed Hanzo by his sleeve and had the both of them running towards the hole in the wall where Kiba entered. Naruto snorted at that, and rushed towards the ninja, sword at his side.

Kiba responded by reaching behind him and hurling as hard as he could a small variety of colored beads, denoting their existence as smoke or pepper bombs. The samurai's eyes widened at this, and immediately fell into a slide. As the bombs were about to hit the ground, Naruto swung his leg out, kicking most of the bombs off to the side, where they exploded against the wall. Though he was able to avoid being caught up in the worst of it, most of the smoke and irritant gases flooded over him as he covered his face.

The moment the smoke cleared, a good number of Kibas were already rushing towards Naruto, all screaming for his blood.

He sure doesn't waste time. Still…Grinning at the challenge, the orange form gripped the floor behind him and rolled backwards. Landing on his feet, Naruto quickly used his free hands to free his sword, slashing and striking at the replications in front of him. Predictably, most of the attacks passed through the air-borne ninjas, but the boy was observant and quick on his feet. Naruto rushed forwards past the bunshins, and found his sword pointed at a Kiba's neck in the back of the crowd. Unlike the others, this one made actual contact with the sword, as a few beads of sweat made itself clear on his face.

Naruto grinned, "Still too slow."

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A stalemate, Haku duly noted, while she slid across the top of the roof away from the bug-using Shinobi. All the while, a wall compromised entirely of the insects had formed between the two, marred only by Haku's icy sword jammed and trapped in the black writhing mass. The boy's shaded features stayed as poker-like as ever. With a sigh, Haku made a sweep gesture with her hand, causing the trapped ice to melt into water and float into her hand, where it reformed once more.

"Not much for talk, are you, Shinobi?"

"…"

"Well, I suppose that's my fault. After living most of my life with two men who try to out talk each other, this is a rather drastic change-" Haku stopped at that comment to resume combat, while thrusting out her arm. The icy blade suddenly blossomed and exploded, as the sword fell apart into a growing spear that was launching itself towards Shino. The ninja made a customary noise of surprise, as he dodged to the side to avoid the fast moving ice-blade torrent that had just torn through the shield of his insects. But the surprise didn't end there. To his shock, Shino watched as the spear of ice continued to grow in a different direction, until the point of ice had completely reverted its course and was growing furiously downwards to impale the ninja from above.

The insect-user quickly threw a kunai with a hissing handle towards the falling ice. The moment the steel bit into the frost, the ice exploded, revealing an icy stump that still charged downwards. But the empty space was more than enough time for Shino to jump out of the way while the ice smashed into the roof, and through it.

-

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How…cliché…Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch as the fire began to rapidly catch. As Naruto was playing around with Kiba, massive shards of ice had fallen through the roof, forcing the two of them to jump away from each other. At the same time, one of the falling blocks and knocked down a torch stand, scattering embers across shattered jars of alcoholic Sake, causing the room to go up in flames. Luckily most of the smoke was heading out of the holes in the roof, but the fire was still consuming everything around the two opponents.

"A most suitable stage, ya think?" Naruto snorted through the heat and blaze.

"So you aren't going to run away?" Kiba sneered back.

"Don't push yourself too hard, dog-breath."

"We'll see," Kiba grinned, and brought two fingers to his mouth, giving off a high-pitched whistle. "Hey Akamaru! Come!" Kiba shouted into the flames.

While Naruto gave a strange look, Kiba squatted down, forming handseals.

"Gijyuu Ninpou: Juujuin Bunshin!"

Nothing.

The samurai snorted at the attempt, but nevertheless took the jutsu as an upcoming to something bad. With that, Naruto was already charging through the flames towards Kiba, while the ninja still kept that crazy look on his face.

"Let's do this, Akamaru! Gatsuuga!" Immediately behind Naruto, the panel doors exploded as a drilling force of nature propelled itself towards Naruto from behind.

Shit…

Though Naruto was hit from behind by the drill of teeth and claws, Akamaru only hit wood and ninja smoke as replacement burst apart. Behind the Kiba clone that comprised of his dog, Naruto dropped to the ground near the totaled door.

Tetsuya's head momentarily popped through the opening, mouth agape.

"Holy shit. That dog turned into a man!"

"You make it sound like that's a good thing." Naruto growled back.

"Well, not really. But-AGH!" Tetsuya's head ducked away as several kunai dug into the wood. Probably that jounin woman. Naruto kept his gaze straight at the two Kiba's through the fire.

"Well, I'm waiting." The samurai shrugged.

One of the Kibas reached into his pack to throw more smoke bombs at Naruto. The samurai wasted no time launching himself out of the way of the emerging clouds, and quickly dodged away again from a Gatsuuga that tore through the ground he was on moments before. Much to the hidden annoyance of Kiba and Akamaru, the orange form was veritably bouncing from one portion to the floor as the two drills circled around and tore through the burning temple as they continued to chase after Naruto.

They can even change direction. Scary. Naruto mentally harrumphed. He'll probably tear through my sword the way he's moving. Luckily he's not paying attention to where he's fighting. Man, this sucks. I've only got a 50-50 chance to get the right one.

With that, Naruto slashed at the burning pillar behind him. The ancient wood easily parted into two even bits at that, but the damage wasn't enough to cause anything. Yet.

As the two ninjas swirled about and continued to try and dig through the blonde's guts, the latter kept moving from one specific pillar to another, cutting through the wood in a deft stroke. Soon Naruto was standing beside the last pillar of his choice, ready.

As the whirling Kiba closed in on Naruto, the swordman suddenly jumped away and rolled to his knees and flung his sword. The blade spun like a boomerang and slashed through another wood support. This one resulted in the roof caving in, but not on the drill that was headed for Naruto, but the one that held back slightly in the background. Without even stopping, the samurai ran through the dust and pulled out a kunai. The remaining drill spun around to charge towards Naruto.

"Stop right there dog! Or I'll kill your master!" The samurai growled. Immediately, the remaining Kiba fell out of his revolutions, and landed on his feet. Growling, the Kiba tried to cautiously approach the samurai who was crouched by something in the dust.

"Revert back to your original form."

The Kiba gave a sort of despondent look, but agreed, and the Kiba exploded into Ninja smoke, revealing the dog Akamaru, who lay whimpering on the ground. Naruto grinned and poked his kunai slightly at Kiba, who was half buried under the rubble.

"How did you guess it was me…?" The Inuzuka coughed.

"When the enemy lets you use your tactics, it's probably because they set up a trap for you. Something I picked up." Naruto explained. "I know you're not that stupid as to not notice me cutting through those supports. After I went through the third one, I noticed that only one of you two were continually chasing me, while the other stuck to the background and sometimes attacked. It was pretty easy to figure out from there that you were letting your dog fight for you first."

"Bastard… this isn't over yet…"

"Don't delude yourself," Naruto said as he raised his knife, "It's over."

A familiar voice cut in just then, "Stop!"

The two men (and the dog too, mind you) turned their attention to a hole in a wall made earlier, one from whom Hinata had just re-emerged from, obviously running back the entire time, as she still clutched her still healing side that took double stress from hard breathing as well.

Hina…"Hey! I though I told you to get out of here! You have to look after the old man!" Kiba shouted to the white-eyed girl

"Hanzo's safe! I have to help you now!"

Kiba couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the words and mumbled, "Since when did you become a go-getter…?"

"Yeah, Kunoichi. Since when did you start saving the world?" Naruto sneered.

"…Since you suggested the idea to me."

"Huh!"

"I'm not going to take it lying down anymore."

Those words brought a nasty little grin to Naruto's features. It was nasty, merely because they were enemies though. "That's the spirit, ninja! Always run into death with regret, eh? Since you're fighting me…"

Naruto's kunai was concealed again, and with his wood sheath he always held, he flicked it towards his sword that lay forgotten in a corner of the room. The long, weighted string that was attached to the covering flew to the sword and wrapped around the handle. With a pull, the sword was tossed back into it's owners hand, where Naruto pulled the sword back into the sheath, and fell into a low stance.

The same stance that nearly killed the Hyuuga last time.

"…How about round two?" Naruto asked. At the same time, another large portion of the ceiling of the incinerating temple caved in beside the pair, making Naruto continue on another point, "This place isn't going to last much longer, kunoichi. Better make your move fast."

Hinata merely nodded, and moved her hands through her seals

"Byakugan." With those words, the familiar veins ran across the top of her face, her iris's expanding to take in everything. The Kunoichi stood sideway with that, palms outward to receive Naruto's attacks.

There was a momentary pause, before the two of them rushed forwards towards each other. In a blink of an eye, the two passed each other and slid to a halt, Hinata halting by her half buried teammate.

Five seconds later, Hinata's right arm received a deep gash that sprayed blood, causing her to hiss at the pain.

Naruto turned his backwards to smirk at the wound, before falling backwards himself.

And so things went full circle.

"…Holy shit! Hina, you beat him!" Kiba cheered. Akamaru likewise regained his vigor and jumped to his dog feet with a victorious bark. Hinata only turned back with a shaky smile, hoping that she wouldn't blow up ten seconds later or something.

"I guess. Anyways, let's get you out of there and get out of here."

After a bit of digging, Hinata finally managed to pry the last major piece of wreckage of her teammate and help carry the boy over her shoulders the best she could. Seeing that the front entrance had caved in from the samurai's earlier trick, the only was out was through the hole in the back wall Kiba made.

As the two passed, a hand suddenly shot forward, clutching the kunoichi's ankle. Giving a yelp of surprise, the two turned around to look at the facedown figure on the ground, whose hand was gripping onto the Hyuuga.

"Oi… kunoichi… what's your name?" The blonde samurai mumbled into the floor.

Kiba gave an offended look at that, and raised his in a motion to stomp on the other boy's head, "Bastard! Don't you dare ask that shit!"

His teammate stopped him, making him object, "You're okay with this? But-"

"It's okay…" Hinata whispered before turning to the boy on the ground, "Hinata. It's Hinata."

"Hyuuga Hinata… nice name… I'm Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto turned his head to stare up at them with one eye. That was enough to drive some sort of fear into the ninja's hearts.

Maybe it was the heat, or the light of the fire around them, but the boy's eye was unmistakably red, like a demon was wearing an ill-fitting skin of a boy.

"…Hinata, you better not forget my name, 'cause I'm not going to forget yours… you've got potential… We're going to meet again… I promise… so get strong… and wait for that day…"

Naruto's hand lost grip then and fell to the ground, the boy unconscious.

"C'mon, Hina! Let's go!" With that, the two samurai rushed through the wall as more roofing fell about them.

-

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From the hole in the roof, Haku stared in shock at her fallen brother in arms. "Naruto! Stay where you are! I'll get you!" As she tried to move while staying on guard from the bug-using shinobi, her literal next step proved to be her last at the same go.

The moment her foot hit the tiles, it suddenly cracked, causing a whole swarm of black to rush up her leg. Shocked, she tried to kick and shake the chakra draining pests off her, but only caused her to panic and lose balance, causing her to fall on her back, causing the tiles under her to crack and cause more bugs to swarm over her flailing, screaming body.

"You turned your back to the enemy." Shino calmly noted, "For someone with your skills, I'm surprised I wasn't attacking so often with my insects. While we fought, I secretly moved insects directly under the roof. The entire area is under my control. You lose."

That was the last thing Haku heard and saw before blackness consumed her frightened countenance.

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"What the hell are you thinking, tying strings to your kunai? I can still See those, stupid woman!" Tetsuya sneered as he swatted away each kunai that flew at him, even then, Kurenai kept a straight face and kept the samurai busy by continually throwing whatever she could afford.

I just have to keep his concentration here!

Suddenly, the jounin stopped hurling various pointy weapons at the samurai and pulled all the strings together. Holding them with her teeth, Kurenai flipped through the hand seals for a no-brainer for any Jounin.

"Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Kurenai put the last seal so that it enveloped the string between her teeth as she finished the technique. Great flames burst around her, and soon streamed down the wires that she held in her mouth, most of them spider webbing around Tetsuya, who merely snorted.

She didn't even tie me down. She expects to hit me with that technique? Pushing chakra into his legs, the eldest samurai hunched down and gave a great leap, sending him meters into the and well above the carpet of flames under him. The Inukage's sword reflected the sun as he dive-bombed back towards Kurenai. She easily dodged out of the way of the blow that was strong enough to cleave the earth, and brought up a kunai to block the next attack. Even with the hardened steel, Tetsuya's sword was still able to bite very deep into the knife, like it was trying to convert the weapon into butter to cut through.

"You can't keep it up forever, lady." Tetsuya mocked as he pushed his sword closer and closer to her face.

"I only need to keep it up for THIS!" Kurenai shouted as she saw her plan go perfectly, raising a leg, she launched it straight into Tetsuya's side. The samurai easily blocked with his own leg, but the force was enough to force the samurai right where he needed to be.

Hearing a very distinct snapping of wood, Tetsuya gave a dumbfounded look and turned around in time to see his vision covered in bark as the tree fell on him, its trunk completely burned through.

"Bitch! I'll kill you for this!" a muffled tone screamed out from under the branches.

"I should have known you would have under estimated me for being a genjutsu user. Since you concentrated so much on trying to see through whatever 'tricks' I had, it was simple to distract you from my actual goal: destroying that tree with my technique, after planting a kunai on it. You rely on that special ability of yours too much, whatever it is."

The tree blew up after that, as Tetsuya emerged from the splinters. "It still isn't over!"

"It is." Shino's voice suddenly cut in. Tetsuya choked a curse in his throat, as he watched the damn-near emotionless bastard land on the ground near the jounin, Haku unmoving on his shoulder.

"So what, you killed her or something? Are you threatening me with a dead body?" His face twitched as he did his damn best to keep his arrogant grin on his face, even if it felt horribly wrong.

"No. She is alive. If you surrender she will stay that way."

"Don't forget us!" Kiba's voice shouted out as he, along with Hinata, the dog, and Hanzo as well came in, with an equally unconscious Naruto being dragged behind.

"We have your students," Kurenai stated as calmly as she could, "All the bandits have abandoned you, and we out number you four to one, even if three of them are my students. You're out of options, Tetsuya."

Tetsuya growled harshly at those words, eyes wild and both hands grabbing his sword. All of the ninjas tensed at this, anticipating another desperate attack of sorts from the cornered Inukage. But those expectations disappeared as the man seemingly calmed down a bit and spoke.

"Well… I'll admit that part of the samurai honor is knowing when not to act like a total retard, tactically anyways. Cut your losses and all. I suppose even the Rangers admitted defeat once…" Tetsuya balanced the sword by the bottom of its handle for a second before tossing it up into the air, where it speared straight into the earth couple feet away.

"Okay, you guys win. Just don't beat up on my students, 'kay?" Tetsuya drawled as he raised up his hands, "But what ya' gonna do about it? There's obviously not enough of you to capture us and send us to the gallows in Konoha, without jeopardizing the mission you already got. So, what ya' gonna do?"

"Oh, don't worry, I've thought about that." Kurenai sarcastically muttered as she marched toward the man, until they were face to face, "This is for endangering my students."

She cocked her fist back.

-

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Kiba whistled as he watched Tetsuya fly a couple feet back and landed heavily on the back of his head, and laid still. "Damn. You sure showed him, sensei."

As the boy's teacher flapped her hand a little from the excessively powerful, but very well deserved punch, she turned back to her group. "Our mission isn't over yet. Let's all reconvene at the meeting point, rest and continue on. We don't know how many bandits are left out there, and the further we can get away from here, the better. Let's go."

With affirmatives from everyone, they all marched onwards into the rising morning. Hinata turned to look back at the facedown form of the boy she met.

Oh, don't worry. If you're really coming back like you say, I won't take that lying down. I'll be waiting for you, Uzumaki Naruto.

And so, the relationship between a ninja and samurai was borne.

Just not the one that was expected.

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Next Chapter: The samurai journey through a blissful dream, soon to be rudely awakened. A hermit makes himself an enemy. Two faces watch from above, faces covered in blood-painted clouds. Luv! Arc ends, Princess Arc begins.

A/N: Worst chapter (girly voice) EVAAR, LIKE OMG. (I hurt myself saying that). Finding a way to write this piece of crap was a nightmare. Thank god it's out the way now. Sorry for the lateness.

Oh yeah. About the question about Naruto's skill, and in comparison to the other Genin (Cutting Sasuke's fireball in half, but getting owned by Hinata)-

Not a clue. I'm just writing the plot as I planned out.