A/N - Okay, another new chapter for this fic. Yay! Hopefully you're all enjoying the updates for my Naruto/Legend of Dragoon crossover fics. Though Legend of Naruto isn't receiving a whole lot of love...which really, REALLY sucks. I put a hell of a lot of love into that fic and nobody likes it. *tear*
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Yay?
Chapter 6 - A Haunting Death & the Awakening of the Dragoon of Light
Naruto's revelation about what he had done to Sasuke, his own teammate, caused many throughout the room to gasp in a mixture of shock and horror. While some that knew Naruto personally knew that he would never do such a thing if given a choice, the majority just thought he was some kind of monster for committing such an atrocious act.
Naruto could hear the people throughout the room whispering about Sasuke and himself, trying to determine what could have caused such an incident to occur. Personally, he couldn't find it in him to care what they thought of him or what kinds of conclusions they could come up with about him. But, he decided, they deserved to at least hear the truth of the matter before it got out of hand.
Before Hayate could begin his match with Kiba, Naruto looked around the room at everyone and began to speak in a loud voice so that he could be heard over the inane chatter. "I don't care one way or another what you think of me for killing Sasuke. But you at least deserve to hear the truth. Sasuke was a traitor to the village of Konoha. He was branded with a Curse Seal by Orochimaru of the Sannin and had plans to leave the village to join him in exchange for power to hopefully one day kill his brother. All because he felt he wasn't getting that power here, in the village where he was born and grew up in. Sasuke was a foolish little boy who didn't get the psychiatric help he so desperately needed after the Uchiha Massacre and he just continued to spiral ever downward until he became a twisted, warped little creature that this village spoiled and pampered into believing he could get away with every little thing he did. I did what I had to do and that is all. Think of me what you will, but I will never regret my decision and I do not feel bad for killing that traitor." he declared passionately.
After hearing this, the people in the room began to calm down and think about his words rationally for a time. The majority of them began to see Naruto's words for what they were and could see that his reason for killing Sasuke was just. Others, however, still believed that Naruto was a monster for killing his teammate so callously. Then there were those, like Hinata for instance, that could see how having to kill his own teammate was truly affecting Naruto. He may not be showing any outward signs that it was affecting him, but if one looked closely enough, on the inside one could tell that it was hurting him to have to have killed his teammate in such a way. It was clearly something he never wanted to have to do to anyone, let alone a comrade; if Sasuke could be called such a thing.
Kiba, having enough of this bullshit, spoke up. "Are you people really falling for this shit? I can't believe this! I'll tell you the real truth of this situation! Then you'll see that this thing in front of you is nothing more than a monster in human skin!" he exclaimed angrily.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kiba, clearly not liking where this was going. However, as Hayate had not announced the start of the fight just yet, there was nothing he could do to shut him up. So, he simply allowed Kiba to speak, waiting, like the rest, for Kiba to continue on.
"You all probably think I'm just pissed off at him because I'm jealous of his successes in life, right? Well that may be, but that's not all! You see, this little punk is really a monster in disguise! I found out some information about him that really made things clear to me a while back. And when it became known to me, I really grew to hate this monster in front of me." Kiba snarled out as he turned back to stare hatefully at Naruto.
"You see, 14 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked our village of Konohagakure. We all learned in the academy that the Yondaime Hokage defeated it and 'killed' it. But no, that was a fucking lie! You can't kill one of the bijuu! But you can seal it away! Well guess what! Naruto right there? He's a fucking Jinchuriki! He's the Kyuubi given human form! He's the goddamn monster that killed my father! He's the reason I had to grow up without a father! And that is why I fucking hate him! That is why I'm going to be the one to kill him! I'm going to avenge all of our fallen brethren! I'm going to be the greatest hero our village has ever seen by killing this goddamn monster once and for all!" Kiba exclaimed in a mad frenzy.
Naruto couldn't help but quirk a brow at this. "Really? You really think I'm the Kyuubi? If I was the Kyuubi, wouldn't I have torn the village asunder long before now for how I've been treated? Use some common sense for once in your life Kiba." he chastised.
Kiba snarled at Naruto and shook his head. "You're weak now Kyuubi. Far weaker than you've ever been before. You should never have been allowed to become a ninja! They should have kept you on a fucking leash like a damn pet or something! But no, they wanted to show you off like you were some prized possession of theirs. 'Oh, look at our weapon! Isn't it just fantastic?' Tch. I'm through with this talking. Proctor, start the fucking match already!"
The proctor sweatdropped and looked between the two fighters. "If you'll remember correctly, I started the match a while ago. You two have just spent this entire time talking instead of fighting." he said between sporadic coughing fits.
Naruto and Kiba both looked at one another before sweatdropping themselves. "Oh…" they muttered out. Naruto took a moment to look towards the Sandaime Hokage and saw him nod in his direction before sending a sad look towards Kiba. The message was clear: the law had to be followed to the letter. Kiba had committed a crime in revealing what he had, and it didn't help matters any that he was out to try and take Naruto's life either. So, with a sigh, Naruto looked at Kiba pityingly and shook his head. "Kiba...for what it's worth...I'm sorry in advance for what I have to do."
Kiba snarled and charged at Naruto, Akamaru at his side, although it seemed the pup was reluctant to do so. It seemed the young puppy knew that his master was in the wrong and that things were not going to go so well for he and his master.
Meanwhile, up on the balcony, Kurenai worried for her student and, without speaking a word to anyone, hurried over to the Sandaime Hokage. Once she had reached him, she kneeled before him and bowed her head. "Sandaime-sama, please! You have to stop this fight before something terrible happens!" she exclaimed, having seen the exchange between the Sandaime Hokage and Naruto mere moments before the fight got underway. "I know Kiba broke the law you set, but please, I beg of you to show him mercy."
Hiruzen looked impassively at Kurenai and bade her to rise to her feet. Once she had done so, he stared hard into her eyes before pointing down below so she could see what was happening. Once she had turned, she could see Kiba trying everything he could to rip Naruto apart with his clawed fingers. There was no style or grace to his attacks, and he wasn't even using any of his clan techniques yet either. It was just pure rage guiding his attacks right now all in an effort to kill his opponent.
Turning back to look in the Hokage's eyes, she saw him staring hard at her, his gaze sending a cold chill down her spine. "Do you see it now Kurenai? Your student is attempting to murder one of our own. One of his allies! Someone that should be his friend! And not only that, he broke my decree and revealed to everyone in this room, both friend and enemy, this village's biggest secret! That is why I gave Naruto the signal to end Kiba's life and why he will do so. You failed in raising your team Kurenai and, as of this moment, you are no longer Team 8's sensei. I will find Team 8 a replacement for Kiba as well as a new sensei for the team that will guide them well. Whether or not you will ever be a sensei again after failing twice is up for debate at this moment in time. You should take a good, long look at your career and think about where your life is going Kurenai. Now return to your team and inform them about what I have just told you. Leave my presence now Kurenai." Hiruzen commanded before shooing her away.
Kurenai was stunned. She stared at the Hokage wide-eyed and mouth hanging open in shock for a time before she slowly nodded, her mouth closing and her teeth clicking together audibly before she turned and briskly made her way back to the remaining members of Team 8. Once there, she looked down at Shino and Hinata and could see them looking at her with concern on their faces.
Offering the two of them a smile that didn't reach her eyes, she could feel tears stinging at her eyes, but she fought them back to the best of her ability. "Hokage-sama has given Naruto the order to kill Kiba. Hinata-chan, Shino, if you have any last words you want your teammate to hear, I suggest that you say them now. Otherwise...you should simply watch this fight to its conclusion and do not weep for your teammate when he passes on into the next life. Kiba made his choice and now he has to pay for it. I...I am sorry for failing you as your sensei." she said solemnly as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.
Hinata hugged Kurenai tightly while Shino turned to watch the fight taking place down below. He knew that there was more yet to be said, so he simply listened on while watching what would soon lead to his teammate's demise. "Hokage-sama has removed me as Team 8's sensei because of my failure to handle the team's problems as a whole. I was unable to curb Kiba's hatred of Naruto and was unable to solve this problem in time and have allowed him to reveal our village's biggest secret in front of potential enemies. I...failed all three of you. And for that, I am sorry." she said, bowing to both Shino and Hinata. "Never doubt my love for you though, Shino, Hinata-chan. You will always be precious to me. Always."
Hinata began to sob quietly as she just held onto Kurenai. The two of them were as close as a mother and her daughter, so this was just as hard on Hinata as it was on Kurenai. Shino, on the other hand, turned to face Kurenai with a frown on his face. Looking into her eyes, he reached up and removed his shades so she could look into his eyes. "I do not like Hokage-sama's decision to remove you as our sensei, but perhaps we could still see you around and get some advice from you Kurenai-san? Would that be acceptable?"
Kurenai nodded with a smile and wiped away her tears. She knew this was as emotional that Shino would possibly get. "That sounds wonderful Shino. Of course we can still see each other. I'll be glad to help you two out however I can. You're still my wonderful students, even if it's not official anymore."
Meanwhile, with Kakashi, he couldn't help but sigh and shake his head at Kiba's level of stupidity. Dumb mutt. Why'd you have to go and pull that stupid stunt? Naruto's going to have a hard time getting through this. First Sasuke and now Kiba too. I hope we can help get him through this or he's going to break inside. He thought to himself as he watched the fight taking place down below.
Shikamaru sighed out a, "Troublesome." and looked sidelong at Haku. "You can see it too, can't you Haku? Naruto's hesitating. We might need to say something soon to get him to see that he's been given an order and he has to follow through with it. But more than that...if he doesn't do something, Kiba is going to kill him."
Haku frowned at this and looked at her beloved. She could, indeed, see that he was hesitating to follow through with his order to kill Kiba. Looking at Shikamaru, she nodded once and looked back at her precious Naruto-kun. "I agree. This isn't looking good." Haku prepared to shout out to Naruto to try and give him some courage to do the right thing, but someone else beat her to the punch.
"Damn it Naruto, stop this at once!" Rose shouted out, clearly angry by her tone of voice. "The Naruto I know and love would never hesitate like this! I trained you better than this. You have been given the order to kill this fool that broke the Hokage's decree, so fucking do it already! Don't hesitate anymore or I'll personally make you suffer for it. And believe me, you don't want to see what I'll do to you if you make me angry Naruto." she threatened, clearly frustrated with the young man she had raised and trained to be the most powerful Jade Dragoon she could make him.
Naruto quickly avoided another attack from Kiba and blinked as he glanced away for a moment at Rose. It was an 'interesting' pep talk, but it worked. Coming from Rose, it helped a lot. But one thing she said really stood out to him. 'The Naruto I know and love…' Does she mean love in a familial way or a romantic way? Damn! I wish I could find out right now, but now just isn't the time! Whoa! Gotta keep my head in the game or Kiba's going to take my head off! Okay, focus Naruto. Kill Kiba first, then watch the rest of the matches, then you can talk to Rose later. Okay, let's do this! He thought to himself in a form of pep talk to psyche himself up before he grabbed hold of his spear and readied himself for combat against Kiba.
"Oh? Finally getting ready to fight back, are you Kyuubi? Good, I was getting bored of no action from you. C'mon Akamaru, let's take this fight up a notch!" Kiba shouted before he tossed Akamaru a food pill. In a moment, they used the Beast Human Clone technique to transform Akamaru into an exact replica of Kiba. Afterwards, they both charged at Naruto before shouting out, "Fang Passing Fang!" and turned themselves into whirling drills of death, aimed directly at Naruto as they spun rapidly towards him from two separate angles.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked calmly at the oncoming duo and muttered, "Remember Kiba, you asked for this." before he transformed into a Dragoon. Afterwards, he unleashed his first spell, Wing Blaster, on the spiralling duo. The next thing everyone heard was Kiba screaming out in agony as he collapsed to the ground clutching at his face, blood pouring from some wounds that were inflicted to his face as part of the spell. It wasn't on purpose as the spell was directed to attack them all over, but it would seem that, as a result of their constant spinning, the spell hit them in rather random locations.
Akamaru, on the other hand, was knocked out of his transformation and sent flying into a wall from the spell, whimpering pitifully as he tried to get up. Sadly, his wounds were too much for him and he was unable to move to go and help his master.
Naruto frowned sadly at Akamaru, wishing he could help the young pup, but he had something important he had to do. Looking over at Kiba, Naruto watched as his opponent thrashed around, screaming about blood in his eye. Ah well, not that that mattered any. Flapping his wings, Naruto rose into the air above his opponent and took a deep breath in before releasing it slowly. "For what it's worth Kiba...I am sorry." and with that, he unleashed a full-powered D-Addition, ending with his lance piercing through Kiba's chest, his heart impaled on the end of it.
Removing the spear from Kiba's chest, Naruto flicked his heart off of his weapon and looked into Kiba's eyes as the last ember of life flickered away. Afterwards, he watched as Kiba slumped to the ground face first, dead as can be. Sighing, he cancelled his transformation and walked over to Akamaru as the proctor announced that Naruto was the victor.
As a small group came to take Kiba away and clean up the arena, Naruto knelt down beside Akamaru and began to tend to his wounds. Afterwards, he began to softly pet the young puppy. "Akamaru...I am so sorry for what I had to do to your master...your friend. He...he gave me no choice. I just...I hope that you can forgive me someday for taking away your first true friend." Naruto said as he lifted Akamaru into his arms and walked with him back up to the balcony.
Walking over to Team 8, Naruto looked down at the puppy in his arms and continued to pet him softly. "I...I don't know what to do with Akamaru. So...can you please watch over him? I wasn't sure who else to trust with him." he said as he handed Akamaru to Hinata.
Kurenai smiled sadly at Naruto. "It's okay Naruto. We'll watch over Akamaru for now and see that he gets home safely. And...we aren't upset with you. You did what you had to do. Yes...it hurts to see a comrade die, but he broke a very important law and he had to pay the consequences. I'm just sorry you have to suffer like this because of it." she said before she walked closer and wrapped Naruto in a warm hug. "If you ever need someone to talk to Naruto, I'll be here for you, alright? Things haven't been easy for you lately, have they?"
Naruto took a few shaky breaths in and out before shaking his head in the negative. "No...no they have not. But...I'm going to stay strong and fight through everything just as I always have. And...thank you Kurenai-san. I appreciate your kind offer." he said before he turned and walked away to rejoin his team.
After doing so, he could see Haku and Shikamaru looking at him sadly. The Water Dragoon quickly wrapped him up in a tight embrace and kissed his cheek lightly to try and show her support. Meanwhile, Shikamaru held out his fist to his friend and shared a quick fistbump with his best friend. "How are you holding up Naruto? I know it was a troublesome situation, but you're tough. I know you can get through this."
Naruto smiled softly at Shikamaru before he wrapped his arms around Haku and began to stroke her hair to try and calm her somewhat. "I'll be alright. I just...need a little more time is all. I never expected him to reveal such information about me. I wonder how he found out about me being a jinchuriki. It doesn't make any sense." he muttered.
Kakashi sighed and looked down at his student. "We may never know Naruto-kun. But...I want you to know that I'm proud of you. You have performed your duties admirably and you deserve to be commended for them. I understand that it has been hard on you, but that's understandable. You're only 14 years-old. So if you need to take some time off after the Exams are over, then I say you've more than earned it Naruto-kun. Okay?"
The young blonde chuckled a bit and shook his head. "That sounds really nice Kakashi-sensei, but I highly doubt I'll be allowed to take a break. I can always ask though." the blue-eyed teenager said with a shrug.
It was at this point that the next match was announced and the fighters were called down to the field. Looking to the board to see who was up now, he was a little shocked at who was facing whom next.
Hinata Hyuga vs. Neji Hyuga
This fight was a hard one to watch for Naruto. Hinata was a dear friend to him, and he didn't want to see her hurt. He knew how much Neji hated her as she had told him about his hatred before. What he didn't understand was why. Oh, she had explained it all to him before enough times, but it was all just so stupid to him that he just could not understand Neji's reasoning no matter how hard he tried!
As the fight progressed and Hinata took blow after blow, Naruto cringed in sympathy for her. After a moment, Naruto couldn't contain himself anymore and shouted out, "Go Hinata-chan! You can do it! Beat that jackass into the ground for everything he's ever said and done to you!"
Hinata smiled to herself, happy that her crush was cheering her on. But inside, she knew that she couldn't win this fight. Still though, she would fight on and hope for the best. So, she continued to fight against Neji and continued to stand, even after he had beaten her into the ground.
Finally Neji got so fed up with her that he attempted to kill her, only for Naruto to leap in the way with his Dragoon armor on and his lance against his throat. "Take one more goddamn step and I will end you Neji Hyuga." Naruto warned angrily. "Hinata can barely stand. I saw what you were trying to do. You were trying to kill her! Your own cousin! She has done absolutely nothing to you! She hasn't betrayed the village! She hasn't broken any laws! She hasn't done anything to warrant death! She hasn't even committed any kind of sin against you, so why the fuck were you trying to kill her?!"
Neji snarled and attempted a palm thrust against Naruto, but the blonde slammed his lance into the side of Neji's face, leaving a deep gash underneath his eye and sending him crashing to the ground hard. "Obviously you don't get it. I warned you Neji. Now leave. You won the fight, so you don't need to do anymore." Turning back to Hinata, he could see blood leaking from her mouth. Quickly dropping his transformation, Naruto began to root around in his pouch of Dragoon Spirits and found what he was looking for.
However, right as he went to pull it out, he heard a commotion behind him and turned to see the various Jonin in the room holding Neji down. It would seem the fool had tried to attack Naruto while his back was turned. Tch. Fucking coward. Naruto thought with a scowl on his face. Looking back down at Hinata, Naruto could see the Dragoon Spirit in his hand was glowing. Blinking in shock at this, Naruto laid the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit upon Hinata's chest, just a bit below her bountiful bosom.
Within moments, a brilliant flash of light flashed throughout the room, emanating from Hinata's broken body. When the light died down, they could see Hinata had underwent a transformation just like Naruto had before in his fight against Kiba.
Hinata was in a beautiful white suit of Dragoon armor. She was floating off the ground with wings of her own and was currently looking herself over. Thankfully, her armor wasn't quite as revealing as Haku's was, but the skirt could be a little longer, as it was rather short for her taste. And the top gave a rather generous helping of her cleavage, but she could live with that, she supposed. Just so long as she wasn't giving anyone a free show, she was fine.
What really got to her though was the fact that she felt perfect. She felt complete now. It was almost like before, she didn't feel like herself. She felt as if she was missing a huge part of herself. And now? Now she was complete. She was whole again and she loved this feeling! Now if only she had a weapon of some kind, she'd be happy.
Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled. "This is great! We've finally found the Light Dragoon! Welcome to the family Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed with a bright grin on his face. "C'mon, let's head back up to the balcony. They need to start the next match, after all." he said before taking Hinata's hand in his and proceeded to help cancel her transformation. Afterwards, they went up to join the rest of Team 7 so Naruto, Kakashi, and Haku could talk to Hinata about what it meant to be a Dragoon.
Gaara vs. Rock Lee
As they watched this fight take place, Team 7 and Hinata were in absolute awe at the absolute mastery of taijutsu that Rock Lee showed. They were also impressed with Gaara as well. However, Naruto listened to the Kyuubi speak to him as she revealed that Gaara was a jinchuriki, just like himself. Apparently he held the Ichibi, a bijuu named Shukaku and it was absolutely insane and was likely behind Gaara's insanity as well. Just swell.
So, as they watched the fight in awe, Hinata asked questions about what being a Dragoon meant. "Well Hinata-chan, our purpose is as of yet unknown to us." Naruto explained. "So right now, we're making it our goal to protect the people and make the world a better place as best we can while trying to find the remaining Dragoons." he explained with a smile in her direction.
"We're also looking for a person called the 'Moon Child'." Kakashi supplied helpfully. "The Moon Child is someone with incredible power capable of many dangerous feats. We're not sure what the new Moon Child is capable of or even what their purpose is in this new world of ours, but we do know is that we need to find this Moon Child and either keep him or her out of the hands of evil or, Heaven forbid, kill the Moon Child to protect our future."
Haku frowned at hearing that and shook her head. "I'd rather not have to do that, but it's true. The one person you really need to talk to about all this Dragoon stuff is Rose. She's right over there." the Water Dragoon said as she pointed over at Rose. "She's one of the original Dragoons from over 100,000 years ago. Just...don't call her old. That'll really piss her off." Haku said with a chuckle.
Hinata giggled and shook her head in disbelief. "Of course that would make her angry. Women don't like being told they're getting old. It's a common thing amongst our kind." she said, nodding sagely afterwards. Haku looked at Hinata with a smirk and a raised eyebrow before they both began to giggle.
The three men of Team 7 looked at each other, muttered "Troublesome." as one, and hung their heads in disbelief. It was at this point that they heard a scream of agony from down below and they all turned their heads to see that Gaara had just crushed Lee's left arm and leg, effectively ending his ninja career if something wasn't done soon to heal him.
Hinata, without needing to hear any instruction on what to do, quickly leaped over the railing and rushed up to Lee, transforming into her Dragoon form and began to focus on Lee's injuries. Meanwhile, the others were focused on calming Gaara and getting him to return to his team.
After a moment, a bright light enveloped Lee and, when it faded, all of Lee's pain faded away and Hinata looked at Guy. "That should do the trick. When Lee wakes up, try and have him do some light exercises to see if everything is working at 100%. Don't let him do anything too strenuous. This means no heavy workouts of any kind! At least not for a few weeks. I don't want him relapsing." Hinata explained as she dropped out of her transformation.
Guy smiled at Hinata and lifted Lee into his arms. "Thank you Hinata. I truly appreciate everything you have done for Lee. You deserve some rest now yourself. Go, relax with your friends and loved ones." he said seriously before he walked off with Lee.
After he was gone, Hinata returned to Team 7 and watched as the other members of Team 8 walked over to join them. Smiling at the both of them, she stood beside Kurenai before they watched as the next pair of combatants were chosen.
Choji Akimichi vs. Haku Yuki
As Choji made his way down to the arena floor to prepare for his battle, Haku turned to Naruto with a sly grin on her face. "Do I get a good luck kiss Naruto-kun?" she asked before pouting cutely at him.
Chuckling softly, Naruto leaned in and pressed his lips against Haku's lightly for a brief moment. Afterwards, he pointed down below to where Hayate and Choji were waiting. "There Haku-chan. Now go. You've got this fight in the bag sweetie. Just kick his butt and then all three of us can go to the finals together. Pretty sweet, huh?" he said with a grin.
Giggling a bit, Haku nodded and skipped down the stairs and across the floor until she was in front of Choji and the proctor. "Ready! Let's get this thing started so I can go be with my Naru-kun again!" she exclaimed in a cutesy tone of voice while she propped her long hammer behind her head on her shoulders.
As Choji stared at Haku, he couldn't help but be nervous. While she was a very attractive woman, she was carrying around a big weapon that looked like it could really hurt. At the same time, he didn't really know what she was capable of. He knew virtually nothing about her save for the fact that she was on Naruto's team. If she was on his team, then she had to be strong.
Releasing a shaky breath, Choji got into his family's taijutsu stance and prepared for battle. As soon as the battle began, Haku was already upon him, whacking him once with the hammer before nailing him a second time and declaring, "Double Smack!" He had no idea what was happening or why he was flying through the air. All Choji knew was that he was feeling a tremendous amount of pain and there was a 'thud!' sound before more pain surged throughout his body.
Haku frowned to herself as she looked at Choji. She had just unleashed the very first Addition she had ever learned on him, and it looked as if her fellow Genin couldn't even handle that! Sighing, she watched as Choji lost consciousness and turned to stare at the proctor with a raised eyebrow. When he announced her as the winner, she shrugged and walked off to go and join her beloved Naru-kun again while the medics came out to fetch Choji once again.
Asuma couldn't help but sigh to himself. Not a one of his Genin had made it through to the final round. Meanwhile, everyone else had at least one of their Genin going through to the finals. This stung at his pride and he began to wonder if he really had what it took to be a Jonin sensei. Looking to his father, Asuma could see the look he was sending his way. It said that they would talk later, but he couldn't tell if it was a good talk or a bad talk. Sighing to himself, Asuma looked back towards the arena to see the final two combatants in the field, ready to face each other for the right to advance into the finals.
Suzumebachi vs. Akatsuchi
Yes, the final match of the preliminaries was between the remaining two members of the Iwa team, oddly enough. The machine had been random enough in those it picked, and since these two were the only names left, it left these two to fight each other for the final slot. This did have the effect of pissing the two of them off somewhat, more Suzumebachi than Akatsuchi, but they accepted it and met each other in the arena.
As the two began to duke it out, the both of them displaying a variety of techniques and battle prowess, Naruto couldn't help but think about their teammate, Kurotsuchi. Looking over at her, he found her staring at him as well. Offering her a smile and a wave, he watched as she smiled and waved back. He dearly hoped that his new friend would be able to convince her grandfather to let her stay here, otherwise there was no telling what Rose and the other Dragoons would have to do to the Tsuchikage in order to make him understand. He didn't want to have to resort to force, but this was very important!
As he turned his gaze back to the fight, Naruto was surprised to feel someone tapping him on the shoulder. Looking to his side, he saw Kurotsuchi had snuck up on him. Blinking, he looked back at where she had been standing before looking back at her. "Wow. I must be really out of it to not have noticed you coming over here. What's up Kuro-chan?"
Kurotsuchi blushed at the nickname, but smiled at him regardless as she leaned on the railing next to him. "I just figured I'd come over here and keep you company Naruto-kun." she said, trying to get a rise out of him for calling him -kun. Seeing him quirk an eyebrow at her in curiosity, she grinned. "What? You call me Kuro-chan, so I'm allowed to call you Naruto-kun. Fair's fair after all." she teased.
Naruto chuckled and returned his gaze to the battle taking place down below. "I suppose it is. Careful though, people might think you're interested in me if you go about calling me Naruto-kun. They know I just call people whatever I want, so I doubt I'll be getting any grief, but you? I dunno." he said with a sly grin on his face.
Kurotsuchi blushed a tad deeper and looked away from him. "Perv. Who'd be interested in you, huh? Not that you're a bad guy or anything, but...you know...you're just not my type. That's all!"
Haku couldn't help but overhear this and blinked a couple of times as she looked Kurotsuchi's way, completely abandoning watching the fight at this point. After a moment, she realized that Naruto's new friend was certainly…'interesting'...in her own way. Though whether she was interested in her Naru-kun or not was debatable at this point. However, it sure sounded like she was. Shrugging it off, Haku simply looked at Naruto and smiled. "Well, I for one am interested in Naruto-kun. In fact, I happen to be dating him. We're also very much in love with each other. So does that answer your question Kurotsuchi-san?" Haku said before she walked over and took one of her boyfriend's arms, sandwiching it between her breasts.
Naruto blushed quite a bit at this bold maneuver, but what made it worse was the fact that doing this reminded him of their earlier 'activities'. Kurotsuchi frowned at this and glared at Haku. "Oh really? How...interesting. Do tell me, did he tell you about being the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi before that mutt revealed it? If he didn't, then tell me how you really feel about him, right now. Because I personally couldn't care less. I like Naruto just fine despite being a jinchuriki. Wait...it's not like I like him like that! Well, it's not that I don't like him either I guess...ugh. It's complicated." Kurotsuchi said with a grumble. "He's a good guy and a good friend. And we're Dragoons too, so I want to stick with him and be a good friend to him. So keeping him from harm is the best thing to do. There we go, I said it!" she said with a smile.
Haku blinked at this strange girl, but shrugged and looked into Naruto's eyes. He looked just as confused as she was, but she still smiled at him before looking into Kurotsuchi's eyes. "I've known for a while now. I didn't care then and I don't care now. I love Naruto-kun for who he is. I always will. Never doubt that." she said sternly.
It was at this point that the winner of the match was declared down below. Looking down, they saw that the one known as Akatsuchi had won the fight, but he didn't look like he was doing too well. It was amazing that he was still standing in the condition that he was in!
When the medics came and carried Suzumebachi away, Akatsuchi asked them to wait a moment. Soon enough, all the winners were down below in a nice, neat line waiting to get their numbers. As the box was presented to them, they each reached inside and drew a ball with a number on it. When Anko was ready, she had each of them list off their numbers, one by one.
"3." Kurotsuchi said.
"8." Shino said in a monotonous tone of voice.
"7." Kankuro said, glancing sidelong at Shino as he realized that they would likely be facing off in the finals.
"5. Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.
"10." Temari said simply.
"1." Naruto said, quite curious to see who he would be facing off against. Personally, he hoped he'd get the chance to crush Neji.
"2." Neji said, glaring at Naruto. It would appear as if Naruto got his wish.
"4." Gaara said impassively.
"6." Haku said, looking at her genius teammate with a frown. It looked as if they'd have to fight each other in the finals. She didn't like that one bit.
"9." Akatsuchi stated, waiting to see the results of who would fight whom.
After marking down everybody's names, Anko turned the board around to face them and smiled wide. "Here's the roster for the finals everybody. Take a good, long look and memorize who you're about to face in one month's time. Prepare yourselves accordingly, because in one month you'll be in for the fight of your lives!" she said with a grin.
The board read as follows:
Match 1 - Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga
Match 2 - Kurotsuchi vs. Gaara
Match 3 - Shikamaru Nara vs. Haku Yuki
Match 4 - Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame
Match 5 - Akatsuchi vs. Temari
After reading and memorizing the fights and who would fight whom, Akatsuchi limped over to the medics and climbed aboard the stretcher so they could carry him out and get him the medical attention he so desperately needed.
Meanwhile, Naruto glared Neji's way and pointed his finger at him dramatically. "In one month's time Neji, I'm going to beat your ass so far into the ground you'll be begging me for mercy. I want you to remember something about today Neji. Hinata could have beaten you at any time during today's match, but she didn't. Think about why that is." And with that, Naruto walked away, leaving Neji to stew in a mixture of both fury and confusion, a combination that he didn't like.
Ino's Hospital Room - 1 Hour Later
As Ino slowly returned to consciousness, she began to remember the events leading up to her defeat by Shino little by little. Sasuke...Sasuke's death...it was all so clear and her rage began to broil inside of her once again. However, before she could even so much as think about getting out of bed to go and spread the word to the people about what Naruto did to her precious Sasuke-kun, someone stepped into her room and stared at her with such venom in their eyes that it pinned her in place. Who was this person? It was her very own mother.
Shrinking back in her bed until she was as far back against the headboard as she could get, Ino quivered under her mother's wrathful gaze and stuttered out, "M-Mo-Mom? What's wrong? What did I d-do?"
Ino's mother continued to stare menacingly at her daughter before her gaze softened and she shook her head in pity for her. "What's wrong is that you are a damned idiot Ino. Your father has informed me that Naruto, your ex-classmate and fellow Genin, was forced to kill Sasuke Uchiha, that rotten little brat that you had a ridiculous crush on, because he was going to turn traitor to the village. But more than that, I hear that you were going to attempt to incite a riot in the village by spreading the news that Naruto Uzumaki murdered the Uchiha in cold blood. You do realize that inciting a riot is a punishable offense, right Ino? You could be sentence to death for such a thing. It's an act of treason! But, you don't care, do you? You're not even listening to what I'm saying right now, are you?"
Ino, true to her mother's words, hadn't been listening very attentively to her mother. No, she had begun tuning her out ever since she heard those words from her mother said that her crush on Sasuke was ridiculous. So, leaning forward, she reached up to slap her mother, only to have her wrist caught and then broken, causing her to scream out in agony. However, this didn't stop her for long.
"How...how dare you call my crush on Sasuke stupid?! I loved him and that rotten bastard took him away from me because he was jealous of Sasuke always being better than him! The village deserves to know that that monster killed Sasuke! Everyone should be allowed to take revenge on Naruto!" Ino exclaimed angrily before she was slapped hard across the face not once but multiple times until her cheeks looked inflamed and she had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You don't know what love is yet Ino. How could you? What you felt was a dumb crush on a stupid, spoiled little bitch!" Ino's mother yelled at her daughter. When Ino went to protest again, her mother yanked on her hair, pulling her head back so she could look her in the eyes and see how very serious she was about this. "I am being serious here Ino! You are my only daughter! For once, would you just listen to me?! If you tell even a single person about what happened to Sasuke and spread the rumor that Naruto killed him out of something as petty as jealousy when he in fact did it to stop a traitor to the village, and yes Ino, Sasuke was a traitor, then you will be inciting a riot. You will be committing treason against the village. Hokage-sama will have no choice but to call you a traitor to your home and have you executed on the spot! So for once, would you just listen to me and obey your mother?!"
Ino glared defiantly at her mother and shook her head from side to side. "Never. Sasuke-kun deserves to be avenged and I'll see it happen one way...or another. I don't care if I die, just so long as someone kills that horrible monster for what he's done. Sasuke never hurt anybody. He was a good person! Just misunderstood and hurting inside. All he needed was someone to help heal his wounded heart. That someone could have been me. But now it will never happen and it's all Naruto's fault! So I need to make him pay!"
Ino's beautiful mother sighed and shook her head as she dropped her daughter on the bed again and turned around. "I was hoping you would see reason Daughter. I...was sincerely hoping that we wouldn't have to resort to this. Hokage-sama...she's all yours." she said before she walked over, opened the door, and left the room without another word, simply nodding to the Sandaime Hokage and his entourage as she left.
Entering the room, the Sandaime Hokage looked to his companion, a white-haired man that stood a good bit taller than he did. On his forehead was a headband with the kanji for Oil. This man was Jiraiya of the Sannin. "Jiraiya-kun, seal the room please. And make sure to put up some silencing seals as well while you're at it."
Jiraiya nodded once and went about placing the requested seals while his sensei walked over to Ino and looked down at her with a look that said, 'You're in deep shit and now you're going to suffer because of it.'
When the Sannin was finally done, he walked to the Hokage's side and Hiruzen smiled at him. "Thank you Jiraiya-kun. Now, what to do about this little one, hm?" he questioned rhetorically as he looked down at Ino. "You know, I heard everything you said about Naruto and Sasuke. I was outside the room listening in. The mere fact that you threatened to incite a riot is grounds for me to have you executed right here and now. By all means I should conduct the act of executing you myself and silence you permanently. Kami knows I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. But no, that wouldn't teach you a lesson, and you would be getting off far, far too easy if I were to simply kill you. No, I want you to live and suffer for your crimes Ino. So here's what we're going to do:"
Hiruzen looked to his student and smiled. "Jiraiya-kun here is going to place a seal on your tongue that will make it so you cannot speak about Sasuke at all. At the same time, anytime you try to speak about Naruto-kun, anything you say will come out in a positive tone, as if you're happy just to speak his name. Then my student is going to place a seal on the back of your neck that will affect your memories. You will forget we ever had this conversation, you will forget about these seals being placed on you, and you will forget the conversation you had with your mother as well. You will remember most everything before today, including the death of Sasuke, but today's memories and certain memories in your past will be altered. Which ones are not important right now." The Sandaime explained patiently.
"Finally, I am going to instruct Asuma, my son, to stop taking it easy on you. From this point on, you are going to train like a real shinobi would. No more diets, no more fantasizing about Prince Charming coming to rescue you like a damsel in distress, etc. You are going to be a serious kunoichi or so help me I will have you removed from the ninja program and have you replaced on Team 10! This you will remember!" Hiruzen exclaimed angrily.
Once Jiraiya had inscribed the seals onto her body, he looked to his sensei and nodded. Hiruzen gave a nod in return and watched as Jiraiya commenced with the sealing, Ino screaming out in pain the entire time as first one seal appeared on her tongue, then the second wrapped itself in a coil on the back of her neck. Afterwards, she collapsed backwards onto the bed and passed out.
Looking into his sensei's eyes, Jiraiya decided to ask a question. "Are you sure this is the wisest course of action, sensei? What if somebody tries to undo the seals or something?"
Hiruzen quirked a brow at his student and chuckled. "Jiraiya-kun, you designed these seals yourself. I highly doubt anyone could break them that easily. Besides, nobody knows what they are, and they aren't likely to even notice them unless they're really looking for them."
Jiraiya chuckled a bit and rubbed at the back of his head. "Good points sensei. Anyways, don't you have to deal with that council meeting soon? You're going to call out Danzo on his treachery tonight, aren't you? I'd like to be there to see that. It would probably be a good idea too, since we both know his ROOT's still active, despite having been ordered to disband it years ago."
Hiruzen sighed and nodded his head. "True. Let us go retrieve Rose and Naruto-kun before we leave for the Council chambers. It would be wise of us to involve the two of them in this since it was they who were wronged in the first place."
Nodding his head in understanding, Jiraiya followed his sensei out of the hospital and walked with him towards Naruto's place of residence.
Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate
Kurotsuchi couldn't help but marvel at the size of the axe she now held in her hands. When she heard about the axe's previous master, she was absolutely amazed. A being called a Giganto had been able to wield this thing with a single hand! She could wield it with two and even then, she had to do it with chakra strengthening her arms! If she wanted to truly wield this weapon efficiently, Kurotsuchi knew she'd have to start training herself to the extreme in order to live up to her legacy in Kongol. Oh how she wished she could have met him!
Meanwhile, Hinata was more than happy to pick up the bow and arrows. She was practicing in the backyard, firing at targets that had been set up for her. With her Byakugan, the bow and arrows were the perfect weapon for her and she honestly couldn't be happier! When she heard about Shana and Miranda, she realized that she embodied Shana's spirit much more than she did Miranda's. Personally, from what she heard about Miranda, she seemed kind of like a bitch with a capital B. Not like she was about to say that out loud though.
Rose had also taken the time to inform the two of them about their duties as Dragoons, the history of Dragoons, and had begun teaching them about their abilities, Additions, and more. Naturally, they all were still in the learning process, even Naruto himself, but they were all getting there one day at a time.
They all would have continued to practice were it not for a knocking at the door. Walking to it, Rose answered the door to see the Sandaime and a man she did not know standing there. "Yes? How can I help the two of you today?" she asked as pleasantly as she could.
Hiruzen smiled at her and bowed his head slightly. "Good day Rose. Perhaps you could fetch young Naruto-kun? The four of us need to go to a Council meeting. It's time for us to deal with Danzo once and for all."
Rose smirked at this and nodded before she turned and shouted out for Naruto. When he rushed around the corner and into sight, she smiled at him and looked towards Hiruzen. "Let us be off then."
Naruto blinked a couple of times before shrugging and followed them out. However, before he left, Naruto made sure to activate the seals again to keep the house protected from any intruders.
Council Chambers - Sometime Later
Hiruzen quietly took his place in his chair at the head of the table while Jiraiya stood at his side. Meanwhile, Rose and Naruto stood in the center of the room, looking around at everyone else as they were on a raised platform, sitting at a semi-circular table. On one side sat the clan heads while on the other sat six chosen, influential civilians within the village. Meanwhile, the Elder Council and Danzo himself sat on either side of the Hokage.
"I have called you all here for a matter of grave importance." Hiruzen began. "It has already been brought to your attention recently that Orochimaru has infiltrated our village. While this is true, I have been shown evidence that he has infiltrated Konoha with help from one of our very own."
At hearing this, eyes narrowed on the clan heads side while gasps could be heard coming from the civilians. The Elders, Koharu and Homura, looked at Hiruzen wide-eyed in shock, while Danzo clenched his fist under the table, angry, clearly realizing that Hiruzen was talking about him.
"Hokage-sama, what do you mean? Who would aid that traitor?!" Koharu exclaimed, clearly disturbed a great deal by this news.
Hiruzen sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, to answer that we must go back to four years ago. When Rose was first discovered by young Naruto-kun here, she brought with her a collection of items that were very precious to her. Items of great and mystical power. I will not disclose the identity of these items or what their use is, nor how to obtain them or any other such information as doing so would violate her trust in me." the Hokage explained.
With a heavy sigh, Hiruzen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Shortly after joining our village, some masked individuals, our very own ANBU, broke into Naruto's new home and stole one of these items. When Rose and Naruto-kun captured one, they found the mask was blank and a seal was found on the man's tongue. They were emotionless and spoke about serving a man rather faithfully. All signs pointed to these being members of Root, a group I ordered disbanded many years ago, but for some reason, Danzo seems to still have active." Hiruzen said, glaring at Danzo.
Before anyone could say anything, Hiruzen continued on. "Now, the reason why I'm bringing this up now is because, when Orochimaru attacked Naruto-kun's team in the Forest of Death, he gave a certain item to Sasuke. When Naruto woke up after being given the Curse Mark from my wayward student, he recovered this item from Sasuke and, lo and behold, it turned out to be the very item that had been stolen from him and Rose four years ago. Now, how could Orochimaru have gotten the item if he hadn't been in contact with Danzo, hm?"
At this, everyone glared at Danzo and prepared to make a move against him, but he acted first. "Everything I do, I do for Konoha!" he shouted before rising from his chair and leaping backwards. "Root, to me!" he shouted, only to blink in shock when none came to protect him. "Root, I ordered you to come assist me!"
Rose smirked at this and looked at Naruto. "Well well, it would seem the other Dragoons have done their jobs quite well, haven't they Naruto? What do you say we end this old fool now?" she said with a devilish grin on her face.
Turning to Danzo, Naruto drew his lance and prepared for a fight. "I'm ready when you are Rose-chan. Let's kill this bastard!"
Danzo snarled and ripped off his bandages, revealing a Sharingan eye and his grotesque arm as well. "Fine, if I am going to be trapped in here, then I might as well take you all down with me! Die you bastards!" he shouted out before he began attempting to fight everyone. However, he didn't get very far before he screamed out in agony. Why?
"Wing Blaster!" Naruto had shouted, using his wind attack to try and shred as many of the eyes on Danzo's arm as he could. He got about six of them, but the rest of them remained, as well as the one in his eye socket. When Danzo glared at him and called out a jutsu, firing a series of wind bullets at him, Naruto couldn't help but smirk. "Really? Wind?" he questioned with a laugh before swinging his lance and catching the wind attack before sending it flying right back at Danzo at a speed much faster than Danzo had sent it flying at him.
Before Danzo could retaliate, he suddenly felt as if the world was closing in on him. Unsure what was going on, he felt things shrinking slowly and began to scream as he felt unimaginable pain from forces he couldn't possibly comprehend. It was at this point that he heard a faraway voice cry out, "Death Dimension!"
When the alternate dimension he had been trapped in collapsed with him inside of it and he was dumped back out into the realm of the Elemental Nations in front of all the Council members, Danzo was completely torn asunder. The dark energies of the Death Dimension truly did as the name of the spell described. Anything caught in that spell died a truly grisly death and there were no exceptions. Danzo never even got the chance to use his ability to cheat death, nor did he get to use the seal on his chest that would cause a massive explosion to take everyone to Hell with him. Poor, stupid bastard had to piss off the wrong people.
"Now that that's over with and the bastard responsible for taking things that don't belong to him is dead, as he should be, what now Hokage? We still have to deal with Orochimaru if you'll recall." Rose said as she cocked her hip to one side and stared at him impassively.
Hiruzen sighed and motioned for someone to get a cleanup crew to take away Danzo's body and clean up the room. After that was dealt with, he looked around at everyone before looking back at Rose. "That's going to require some discussion. For now, why don't you take Naruto-kun home and continue training the Dragoons for the finals of the Chunin Exams? And tell Kakashi not to neglect Shikamaru's training or I'll have his head for it!"
Rose chuckled a bit and nodded her head. "I can do that. Come Naruto, let us go. We have work to do." she said before she left the room with Naruto on her heels.
Naruto smiled up at his first love. "Umm...I've been meaning to ask you Rose-chan. When you said 'love' before...did you mean familial love or…?"
The Darkness Dragoon sighed and looked at Naruto with a small glare. "I swear you are the most impatient person sometimes Naruto. I wanted you to stay focused on your training. But...I suppose you do deserve an answer to your question now, don't you?" Sighing again, the female Dragoon closed her eyes and nodded once. "I love you too Naruto. And yes, I mean it in that way. And...I'm proud of you for making it to the finals. I'm also proud of you for doing what you had to do, no matter how much it has hurt you in the end. I promise to help you through it however I can, but in the end, it's going to be up to you to get over their deaths. Do you understand?"
Naruto smiled at her and nodded a few times in rapid succession. "Of course Rose-chan! And I promise that I'll be okay. I'll get over it somehow. I just need a little time is all. And...I'm so glad to hear you love me Rose-chan. I love you too. I love you so much. But...I need to confess something to you. I...I love Haku-chan too. And...if we're to be together, you kind of need to accept her into our lives Rose-chan. I know you may not like it, but she deserves to be happy together with you and me. Don't you think so?"
Rose sighed at this and palmed her face before shaking her head in disbelief at what she was hearing. Removing her hand, she looked into Naruto's eyes and spoke up. "It's...hard enough accepting my feelings for you Naruto. And now you want me to accept another woman into our relationship? I...can try. But it won't be easy. I hope you can understand that."
Naruto nodded and wrapped her in a hug. "I do. All I ask is that you give it a try. I know it won't be easy, but the effort will be worth it in the end. I promise." he said with a smile on his face."
Nodding slowly, Rose returned the hug and buried her face in Naruto's neck, just basking in his presence for the time being. After a couple of minutes of this, they separated and took each other's hand before leaving for home. They had some training to do and only a month to do it in! It was time to get to work!
A/N - Okay, that's the end of the chapter! Hopefully you all enjoyed it. Yep, I killed off both Kiba AND Danzo in this chapter! I bet you weren't expecting THAT when you went to read this chapter today, WERE you? Seriously...were you? 'cause if you were, then you must be psychic or something. Which would be pretty neat. lol.
Anyways, joking aside, this was something of an intense chapter to write. A lot happened, as usual, and I think it was a good chapter personally. Kiba died, Hinata was revealed to be the Dragoon of Light, Danzo died, Rose finally confessed her true feelings to Naruto, all kinds of good stuff. And Ino...ohhh man Ino. Poor, stupid Ino. lol.
Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter. If not...then pooey.
Anyways, I have no idea what I'll work on next. Sooo...be on the lookout for whatever! lol.