A/N: I know, I lied! Don't kill me over being 18 hours late!
Okay, I know some of you are miffed over Sakura last chapter. It is understandable that you would be so, as few people are so devoted as to willingly offer themselves as sacrifices, especially in this case since the result would be another Itachi. Understand this: Sakura fully intended to fight Sasuke to the end alongside Naruto, knowing full well that she was likely to die. She was comforted in the knowledge that if Sasuke did indeed kill her, he might then obtain the power he needed so that he would not have to give up his soul to Orochimaru. Of course, she would much rather end it with all of the members of team 7 alive, but Sasuke, hearing her reasoning, took her words as an invitation, and charged her directly. Sakura, caught by surprise and being much slower than Sasuke's full speed, had no time to move out of the way; she was not simply standing there and waiting to die for the sake of Sasuke's power quest. Fortunately, Naruto was fast enough.
I hope that eases some of your minds. I'll see if I can edit the previous chapter to make this more clear.
In the meantime, here is the chapter you've been waiting on:
Chapter Twenty-Six: Inner Struggle, Shining Eyes
"Hey, hey," gasped one Sound nin, "Slow down! We've been running full-out for ten minutes, now, and me with a broken arm! There's nobody around us... why don't we rest a little?"
"Because, you idiot," replied his companion, leaping onto another tree, "Our prisoner here is a high-value target. Do you think they'll let us have her so easily? That kid got away, and we don't know if the dog is still tailing us or not..."
The first one groaned as he grabbed another handhold with his good arm. "Why did we have to take her, then?"
Impatiently, his comrade explained, "Those bumbling fools who were tripping over each other in retreat aren't going about it the right way. Even if they aren't caught by the Leaf—and they will be—it is impossible to hide from Orochimaru-sama. Every one of them will die, mark my words. We, however... we've got ourselves a treasure. If we ship out to another country across the sea before anyone misses us, we've got a good chance of not being caught. Then we can ransom this kid off and have enough money to live comfortably for a good long while. Don't you think that's better than dying?"
The first Sound nin had to admit that it was a good idea, even if the odds were one in fifty that it would actually work. He resolved to go through with it.
Suddenly, a loud noise off in the distance made both of them halt in their trees and turn to look. They could see only smoke, but with the echoes of the noise, they began to feel something. And a large something it was... so much so that the ninja with the broken arm was compelled to cringe and start shivering.
"D-do you feel that?" he asked fearfully.
"Yeah," replied his friend. "A massive chakra..."
"You too? Then, h-have they f-found us?"
"Whether they have or not, I'm not going to hang around to find out! Come on, let's...!"
But it seemed that "out!" was the word that brought little Hyuuga girls back to consciousness, for their captive had suddenly seized advantage of their distraction and twisted in the Sound ninja's grip, bringing her palm to bear against his abdomen.
"Jyuuken!"
Hanabi's captor keeled over, dropping her. She grabbed hold of a branch and caught herself before she hit the ground, and hauled herself up onto it. Quickly, she turned to meet the other Sound ninja's attack.
However, the attack didn't come. Instead, the ninja with the broken arm regarded her with a grim smile.
"He deserved that," he said, "Thinking of hostages when he should have been running for his life. Now his hesitation's put both of us in danger of that... whatever it is that's out there. Serves him right. He's on his own now, and I'm out of here. I hope you can find your people fast; that thing out there is big, whatever it is."
With that, he vanished into the trees to seek safety in the far corners of the earth.
Hanabi caught her breath, relaxed out of her battle stance. Then she turned towards the village.
"I will not need to be rescued again. Let the monster come, if it wants. Either way, I'm going home."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The forest surrounding the crater was ablaze.
The Uchiha avenger, strong with the fire-attuned blood of his clan, and the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, whose feral chakra expressed a hunger for destruction with brilliant flame, met in the center, and their titanic struggle left nothing unscathed. Everything in the crater that could burn, burned. And anything could burn when touched by Naruto's Kyuubi-tainted Tails of Light.
With fire all around him, Sasuke, his cursed seal wrapped around him with serpentine blackness, had an infinite amount of ammunition to use with his fire-controlling jutsu. Flames from all sides were plucked from their sources—trees, bushes, fallen logs, moss—and sent hurling as blazing missiles towards the enraged Jinchuuriki by the hundreds. Nine fiery tails swatted at them, batting them into the ground, turning the crater into an inferno.
Through this constant rain of flames and across the wasted earth, the two old rivals struggled to wipe one another out with their claws, feet, elbows and knees; whatever was convenient at the moment. Sasuke's Sharingan detected every move of his opponent's body, and he blocked it easily. Chakra would lash out at him, but more often than not he could dodge it or deflect it with a gout of flame.
They exchanged hundreds of blows in the space of the forty seconds in which this dragged on, before Naruto attempted a deathblow from an aerial flip. His foot came downward with massive force, intent on splitting Sasuke's skull. The avenger evaded nimbly, and the Jinchuuriki's foot came down hard into the ground that his tails had melted and stuck fast. Even with the Kyuubi's enormous strength, Naruto had to labor to pull it out, and that inconvenience afforded Sasuke a free attack. Taking the opportunity, the cursed Uchiha swiftly and solidly delivered his own foot into his old rival's chin, knocking him loose of the molten ground and high into the air.
Sasuke grinned and followed up the attack, ceasing the constant barrage of flames and instead gathering the rampant fires all up into a single, ball-shaped destructive blaze. It was much larger than the ball from the cave, and this time Naruto was in the air, unable to run away. This time, massive damage would be inflicted. With a great cry and a final hand sign, Sasuke sent the burning ball of death roaring at Naruto. As it flew, the flickering flames began to darken to purple, and then to black as evil power infused it.
"Katon: Hoshinsei no Jutsu!" he crowed. (Fire Style: Fire Nova Technique)
Naruto and Kyuubi had one thing in common; neither of them would allow himself to die. In both of his hands, Naruto gathered an enormous ball of swirling chakra, pulsing with bright, blue power. From without, the Nine Tails of Light, filled so full of the Kyuubi's power that they literally burned, stroked the ball, adding the blood-red chakra of the monster fox. As the two chakras converged inside the swirling mass, the ball swelled until it was larger than Naruto himself.
The dark ball of flame was nearly upon him. Thrusting with both hands, Naruto pushed his creation between himself and death.
"I'm not dying yet! Oodama Rasengan!" (Great Spiraling Sphere)
The ball of twin chakras encountered the ball of black flame, and while the amount of power in each might have been equal, the maelstrom of swirling motion within the enhanced Rasengan prevailed. The black flame was engulfed and utterly consumed by Naruto's technique. The Rasengan kept falling along with its master, now swirling with three colors: Blue, red, and black.
Sasuke was displeased. "You're not going to beat me with my own jutsu, Naruto."
He called more flame to his hands from the burning forest. With his curse-tainted chakra, he created a frame. With his dominance over flame, he curled the flames around the frame, forming a fiery sword to replace the metal blade he had lost. Then he called forth the lightning of Chidori, reinforcing the fireblade with electrical fury. The completed weapon crackled with life in his hand, the black core of evil chakra plated with crimson fire and singing with sickly birdcalls. Static flickered out of it, as though itching for something to hurt.
Thusly armed, Sasuke ran headlong into the oncoming sphere of destruction. The ball hit the ground and began to roll, driven by it's enraged creator towards the lone warrior before it. Compared to Sasuke, the larger force seemed prematurely victorious. Yet the Uchiha boy only set his teeth and charged on, holding his insubstantial sword out before him.
Naruto howled in anticipation, fully expecting his jutsu to swallow his opponent whole. Yet when the ball and its target met and Sasuke's war cry did not immediately cease, the Jinchuuriki wondered. Then he felt the jutsu begin to come apart in his hands, the momentum of the swirling disrupted. Naruto struggled with all his might to keep it going, but the Rasengan, unstable from the beginning with so much power contained within, could no longer be held together by any means. It burst, and the two chakras, along with the black fire, dispersed into the air.
In its wake, Sasuke appeared, his sword likewise disintegrated in the chaos, spinning out of the dying maelstrom with a flying kick aimed at Naruto's face. The Jinchuuriki saw it coming and blocked it with his hands, though the force of it shook him almost to the point of making him cry out. He slid back several feet in the molten mud, and Sasuke backflipped, landing in the ground to recover from his failed attack.
This is his trump card from three years ago, Sasuke thought. But now it has a name... Kyuubi.
He recalled what Orochimaru had told him about the monster. It was inside Naruto, where his chakra mixed together with the boy's freely, accelerating his healing, increasing his stamina, and during a time when Naruto was in mortal danger or had extremely heightened emotions, even taking precedence over Naruto's normal chakra.
But the trigger is in the mind, and the mind is in the domain of the Sharingan, Sasuke remembered. If I wanted to, I could suppress this power.
He watched as Naruto dragged his body back up to its feet and fan his tails out threateningly. The blond Jinchuuriki was roaring in frustration and anger.
The avenger pondered. However, using the power seems to cause him trouble as much as it helps him. In this condition, his thoughts are unstable, and he has to fight with the monster inside him for control. All that growling is as much because of Kyuubi as it is because of me. If I can get him mad enough, he might get so wrapped up in his inner turmoil that he'll be unable to fight me... and then I can easily finish him.
He grinned to himself. And wouldn't it be ironic if the power that confused me three years ago could be used to defeat him now?
Then his thoughts were disrupted by a flash from high above them. Flares! His friends are out looking for us! And without a doubt they'll have sensed our chakra and know exactly where to find us! I have to move this battle, now!
Sasuke flashed a cocky smile at his opponent. "Well, Naruto," he said, "It's been fun. But it looks like I don't have time to finish this."
He gathered the last of the embers from the smoldering forest and flung them at Naruto's face. Immediately, he took off into the trees.
Naruto, angry, swatted the fireball out of the air and followed him. "You're not running away again, Sasuke!" he yelled.
Kyuubi pulled at his slackened concentration, seeking dominance. Grunting, Naruto worked to force him down, even as he ran after his lost friend.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
In Konoha, the battle was over.
The Hyuuga had cheered along with the other shinobi, and Haruka had been pleased to hear that some of them praised her name. The days when she had lost all hope of ever getting along with her clansmen again were a hazy memory; now she was drunk on all of the hero-worship that had been lavished upon her. They had praised her even more than they had Hiashi!
Best of all, the Clan Head hadn't seemed to mind the fact that he'd been upstaged. Instead, he thanked her, and all of his loyal guards followed suit. The lesser warriors had all smiled, bowed, and saluted her as she passed them.
I would have settled for being allowed to go near them in broad daylight, but this is definitely a welcome change, she thought. Now, I just have one more "thank you" to collect...
She crossed the last stretch of street to Keisuke's gate and threw it open with a resounding clang. Walking boldly up the path to the house, she had a smug expression on her face that she planned to keep for several hours as she extorted favors of gratitude from the occupant within. Haruka swaggered inside the open door and called out loudly to her partner.
"Hey, blind man! Great Father, Keisuke of the Grave, Unseeing Idiot Extraordinaire! Crawl out of whatever hole you're hiding in and worship me like the rest of this town!"
When she did not immediately hear a voice or the sound of blind feet tripping over furniture, she walked further inside and made her way towards his common chamber. Throwing open the sliding door, she yelled again.
"Keisuke! Tadaima! The savior of your people requires thanking!"
When there was again, no answer, Haruka began to get annoyed.
"Fine. If you're so reluctant to come out and thank me, I'll drag you out! Byakugan!"
Veins around her eye sockets bulged in her skin as her doujutsu activated. Looking through the entire house simultaneously she searched for her hidden partner.
She searched for five minutes. Nothing.
"He had better not be hiding halfway across town to avoid me," she said. Yet, a feeling of wrongness had begun to creep beneath her skin, and her annoyed expression had softened to an emotion that the once-outcast Hyuuga woman almost never displayed—worry.
Then, her enhanced vision fell upon something she had overlooked: a scrap of paper on the table that hadn't been there when she'd left. Stepping hesitantly into the room, she turned off her Byakugan and moved towards it. Her knees were shaking and her breath came unexpectedly ragged. Suddenly the air seemed icily cold.
Reaching down with a trembling hand, Haruka picked up the note and held it in front of her face.
"No way," she whispered, her face turning deathly white. "Keisuke, you bastard, this isn't the time for your damned jokes..."
But as the cold enveloped her and she let the note fall from her hand, Haruka knew that it was no joke. The paper landed face up on the floor, where moonlight illuminated the words...
The Rokujuuyon Reiude will be mine.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Hinata was tired, low on chakra, was chasing after two opponents that had been strong enough to nearly kill her teammate, and had no idea where she should start looking after Kiba's bloody trail ended. Yet, her nindo persisted still; she would search until she found them, and fight until her last breath. She could do no less for the promise she had made to Shino, and she wouldn't let herself do any less for her little sister.
She had followed Kiba's trail of blood until it stopped a short way from where she had started, and then she used the Byakugan to identify and then follow the footprints of his attackers until their trail was lost near the village walls. Guessing that they had scaled the wall and left the village, she did the same and headed into the forest.
Following footprints had been difficult in the village, and it was impossible to do so when her quarry had leaped through trees. Her best bet, then, was to move deep into the woodlands, keeping her Byakugan active and her head on a swivel. She did so without much luck.
Then, a huge presence washed over her senses. Two distinct chakras, both of them huge, were not too far away from her. They made her nervous; it probably wasn't Hanabi or her kidnappers, but whatever it was likely wasn't friendly. Hinata looked towards it, focusing all of the power of the Byakugan in that one direction. She confirmed that neither chakra was friendly to Konoha. But a shock ran down her spine as recognition flashed in her head.
She didn't know what the purple-black chakra was, but she did know the identity of the feral, red kind.
Hinata was saved from further useless worrying by a loud and frenzied bark below her. Peering downward, the young Hyuuga recognized a friend.
"Akamaru-kun!" she cried. She leaped down to the ground to meet him, inspecting his condition. "Oh, Akamaru-kun, that cut on your side looks awful... did Kiba-kun order you away from the battle because of it?"
Akamaru gave a low whimper and curled his head into his fur. It was obvious that the big dog was ashamed of having been unable to help his master. Hinata took the meaty beast's head in both of her hands, stroking it soothingly.
"Don't worry, Kiba-kun is going to live," she said. Akamaru seemed somewhat comforted.
Hinata, satisfied that the beast was all right, continued speaking. "Did Kiba-kun also ask you to follow the bad men and my sister?"
Akamaru seemed to remember something, for he instantly broke free of Hinata's grasp, turned to face into the forest, and barked urgently. He lowered himself to the ground, waiting for the girl to mount him.
Hinata smiled and sighed in relief. "Thank you, Akamaru-kun," she said, climbing on. "Please hurry! I need to get Hanabi back home before... before that terrible chakra finds her."
Akamaru understood perfectly, and was off without any further hesitation. The wind ruffled his fur and blew in Hinata's dark hair as he bounded at full bestial speed toward his target. From his back, the Hyuuga girl looked off into the distance, observing the gigantic chakras that she saw there. It seemed that both of them were evenly matched in terms of raw power, and neither one looked ready to stop.
Then, the black chakra began moving rapidly away from its opponent. The red chakra surged angrily.
Naruto-kun, Hinata worried, I want to help you, but I must save Hanabi first. Please... please hold out until I get there!
Akamaru stopped abruptly and began sniffing the air. After a few moments, he began whimpering.
Concerned, Hinata spoke softly to the animal. "What is it, Akamaru-kun? Did you lose the scent? Don't worry, I'm sure you can..."
But the dog whimpered again. Turning to face northeast, he stamped his paws uncomfortably and gave a loud, fearful bark. Hinata realized that he had not lost the scent at all; he was worried about something else. Looking in the direction in which he faced, Hinata tried to see what it was.
"Is this the direction the scent goes, Akamaru-kun?"
An affirmative growl and a tossing of the head.
"Oh, but that's..." Hinata paused, horrified.
"That's the same direction they're going."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"SASUKE!" roared Kyuubi/Naruto. "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT!"
He raced after Sasuke on all fours, burning tails waving behind him, smashing or torching whatever got in his way. Be it plant, rock, or animal, nothing impeded the enraged Jinchuuriki's progress. And as Sasuke continued to evade him, his rage only increased.
Good, Sasuke thought. The madder he gets, the closer I am to ending this. And while we're running around, the pursuers will have to work to catch us. I didn't expect this fight to take so long, but now I know the extent of his power.
He leaped from tree branch to tree branch with speed that the average jounin couldn't match on his best day. Naruto's rage-inspired power, however, made him ever-so-slightly faster; although Sasuke had gotten a jump start, his old friend would eventually catch him. When that happened, he'd have to hope that Naruto was close to angry enough... he could only come up with so many good taunts. His shirt was in tatters, and it was close to disintegrating completely. Contemptuously, he tore the remnants off and released them into the wind, hoping to have them land in Naruto's face and enrage him more.
It had the intended effect, and more. As Naruto's rage increased, so did his speed, and the Uchiha avenger suddenly found himself grabbed by the ankle and sent tumbling across the ground. Sasuke barely managed to put his feet between his vitals and the tree that rushed at him, preventing serious injury.
Then, as he jumped lightly off the tree onto the ground to look for Naruto, he heard a startled gasp, and changed the focus of his eyes. Before him was a ten-year-old girl with silver-white eyes that were wide with surprise and—not surprisingly, considering the amount of chakra that was flying around—fear.
A witness, he thought. Not good. If she tells anyone where we've gone, the pursuit will gain an advantage. By the time the fight is over, I might not have the strength to outrun them...
He raised one hand and called forth Chidori. It was not a powerful one, as Sasuke could not afford to waste too much of his dwindling chakra, but it would be sufficient to end one little girl's life. He looked at Naruto.
The idiot's too busy howling himself hoarse, he thought. I have time...
Indeed, Naruto's battle with Kyuubi was reaching a fever pitch inside his head, and he was fighting with all his will to suppress the monster before rejoining the battle with Sasuke. He looked completely harmless to Sasuke's eyes. Satisfied that there was no danger in taking his concentration off the blond, the Uchiha dashed in to kill the witness.
Naruto didn't see Sasuke move. He saw an enormous paw rattling the bars of a cage, trying desperately to break free. Though he shoved Rasengan after Rasengan at the monster fox to keep it at bay, nothing seemed to keep it down. Trapped in this losing battle, he was blind to the world outside.
But then something from the outside did reach his senses. A clear, pure voice crying out to him through the void, pleading him to come back, to take action in the real world...
"Naruto-kun!" it shouted. Suddenly he lost sight of the cage and the paw, and his eyes focused into reality. The voice continued shouting, and it was joined with the barking of a dog.
"Naruto-kun, please save her! Naruto-kun!"
"Hinata?" he rasped. Then, his eyes fully focused, he saw Sasuke. He was only thirty yards away from a young girl who resembled a Hyuuga, the Chidori chirping in his palm. The voice echoed in his aching head...
Save her...!
His muscles forgot that they were tired. His mind forgot that it was supposed to be fighting off the advance of the Kyuubi. The chakra that he wielded forgot that it was supposed to be used for murderous rampaging. They did what Naruto wanted them to do.
Likewise, Naruto forgot that he was fighting anything at all. He knew that Sasuke was about to take an innocent life, and that in itself was abominable. Add to that the fact that someone close to him wanted that life saved, and suddenly saving it became Naruto's number one priority.
The chakra that had once nearly destroyed Konoha bent to Naruto's will and against the will of its true master, and granted the power to protect. Naruto focused it all into his legs and feet and dashed madly for the girl.
Sasuke was twenty yards away. Naruto was twenty-five.
Sasuke was ten yards away. Naruto was seventeen.
Save her!
Sasuke was five yards away. Naruto was in front of him, his arms raised defensively before the target, and Sasuke was moving too quickly to change his momentum. With a horrific sound of flesh ripping, the Chidori impacted against the human shield. Hanabi stumbled backwards and fell onto her backside, but she could not escape the blood that splashed her front.
And nobody's ears escaped the scream that came from Naruto's mouth.
"Naruto-kun!" yelled Hinata. She and Akamaru had finally caught up, and the girl was staring aghast at the gruesome scene before her.
Hanabi remained on the ground, unable to do anything. She felt the spilled blood of the blond on her face and arms, and saw the bloody hand that protruded from the exit wound. Her eyes could see, with astounding clarity, the masses of black and red chakra that pulsed before her. She had heard the stories about the red kind, and about the nine tails that had been associated with it. Those tails waved before her now, dimly burning.
She had been told, after the Chuunin exam where she had first seen it, not to go anywhere near the red chakra. She had been told that it was inherently evil and would destroy her. Hanabi had also sworn that she would not need to be rescued again. Yet, this "evil" had just saved her life, and somehow she didn't feel so bad about it.
"Wh-why?" she asked the back of the thing. "What made you want to help me?"
The monster's head turned to look at her. A grim and bloody smile was on its face, and its red eyes burned with determination.
"Because," he said, "I'm going to be Hokage. Saving people is part of what I do."
And because Hinata wanted me to, he added in his head. You're lucky she was here, or I might not have noticed...
"Hanabi!" cried Hinata, "Come here! It's dangerous!"
Naruto agreed. "Go to Hinata. Get out of here, find my teammate, Sakura, and go home."
Sasuke took in all of this with anger. More and more interruptions were taking place. If this keeps up, we'll be found, he thought. And on top of that, Naruto seems to have gotten his control back. The Kyuubi's chakra is in him, but somehow he has direct control!
He watched as the girl he'd tried to kill ran to her sister. If she gets away, it could hurt my chances of escaping. I didn't want to have to do this, but winning quickly is more important than irony right now. I have to!
Sasuke drew back his free hand and punched at Naruto. The blond was alert enough to try to duck under it, but the blow connected on his forehead protector, which knocked him sprawling on his back with a hole in his right shoulder. The hitai-ate headband was dislodged, and skittered across the ground to stop at Hanabi's feet.
Well, I suppose that's somewhat nostalgic, Sasuke said. He had a hole there last time I fought him, too. And it's healing just like before... well, it won't after I do this.
He fixed Naruto with his Sharingan eyes. "I'm sorry, Naruto," he said. "But this will be the end of your power."
Suddenly, Naruto was back in his mind, and the cage containing Kyuubi was before him once more.
Curse you, kid, growled the fox. I was winning, but somehow you still have the strength to make a last stand. And now this opponent of yours is going to lock me away completely again...
Naruto felt that it was true; the Kyuubi's chakra was beginning to fade from him.
"What the...?" he started.
"Perhaps I should have done this earlier," Sasuke said, standing behind him. "It would have saved me a lot of trouble..."
"EH?" Naruto whipped around, staring at him in surprise. "Sasuke! How did you get into my mind?"
"The Sharingan is more than a copycat's tool," Sasuke responded. His face was serious; he was planning to finish the fight after this.
Hinata and Hanabi, meanwhile, were confused.
"Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata. "What's going on? What do you mean, he's in your mind? Is he hurting you from inside?" She wanted to help him, but was at a loss at how to do it.
Hanabi heard all this and concern grew in her. Her life may have been saved now, but what would happen if her savior fell to this man's mental attack now? The attacker was undoubtedly fast, and could likely catch them if they ran. Their best bet was to help this monster blond keep fighting.
But how can we? Hanabi thought. If his mind is under attack, we can't stop it... and it's too dangerous to approach him physically, the Sharingan guy is watching us even while he's doing this!
She peered into the red Uchiha eyes for a moment, then turned away, focusing instead on the forehead protector at her feet. Damn it, those eyes are so weird...
Then she brought her eyes up to look at the grounded Naruto. She noticed a strange marking on his forehead.
The Caged Bird seal! How did it get there? But she did not wonder long about where it came from, for fate had cursed her with a good brain, and that brain had an idea.
It could work, Hanabi thought, pondering it, but it might not, and if it doesn't work, it will do us more harm than good...
She stared at the blond, whose face was contorted in an effort to fight off the mental assault even as his red power was fading.
But, it's the only idea I've got!
Bringing her hand up before her and concentrating, Hanabi formed the secret Main House seal.
In Naruto's head, the cage room quaked and became an inferno.
"What?" Naruto exclaimed. Then the fire caught him, and he was consumed by burning pain. He rolled around on the floor of the room in agony, but nothing suppressed the flames. Struggling only made them burn hotter. He screamed.
He wasn't the only one to fall prey to it. Kyuubi roared in his cage, his own fire unable to hold back the advance of the blaze. His fur caught the fire, and the fox was engulfed in scathing pain. Sasuke, Sharingan eyes wide with shock, tried to leap for the exit, but the exit was gone. The flames were everywhere, and within moments, he too was caught and rolling frantically on the floor in agony. In desperation, he returned to his own body. But the flames had still burned him, and he had to struggle within himself to heal the burns.
In the outer world, both Sasuke and Naruto were twisting and screaming under the onslaught of Hanabi's jutsu. After a moment of thinking that Naruto and Sasuke were destroying each other's minds, Hinata noticed her sister's hand position and gasped.
"Hanabi!" she cried, grabbing hold of her sister's hands, "What are you doing? You're going to kill him!"
"No, Hinata," croaked Naruto, rising to his feet, "She did the right thing. Got that bastard out of my head."
He peered inside himself for a moment. Hey, fox. You alive in there?
Were you hoping I was dead? came the reply.
It can't hurt to hope, Naruto returned bitterly. Well, if you're still here, are you at least going to help keep us alive?
You do it. Take my chakra and fight for yourself—I've got my hands full trying to save my fur.
Naruto grinned a moment, picturing a giant nine-tailed fox without fur. Okay, he replied. So you're too hurt to interfere directly. Suits me fine. I'll be able to concentrate better, anyway.
Slowly, he felt the power return to him. This time there was no arguing over control with the fox—apparently, the assault had done him harm. Naruto wasn't taking any chances, however. He kept his emotions subdued, focusing instead on accomplishing the goal: defeat Sasuke.
Hinata and Hanabi watched as the red chakra surged back into Naruto's body. At first, Hinata was afraid. However, as she watched, she saw that Naruto was not having any conflict within himself, and held himself stable and ready. The nine tails, though they maintained a high concentration of the evil chakra, did not burst into flame as they had before. Naruto was himself.
Watching Sasuke, waiting for him to pull himself together, Naruto spoke to them.
"Hinata," he said, his voice once again strong, "Take her and get out of here. Find Sakura... Akamaru should be able to if he follows my trail home... and then get to the village and call for help. Go now!"
Hinata nodded. She turned to her sister.
"Hanabi," she said, "You go. Let Akamaru-kun find Sakura-chan like he said, and then send help this way as soon as you can."
"WHAT?" Naruto and Hanabi had spoken as one in surprise.
"No questions, Hanabi," Hinata said, hoisting her onto the back of the dog. "Go, Akamaru-kun!"
The beast, more than happy to get out of this danger and back to his master, bounded off without giving Hanabi a chance to complain further. Naruto stared at the remaining Hyuuga, eyes wide in shock.
"You..." he said, "Why didn't you go with her? It's dangerous here, you know that! Do you want to be killed?"
"I know it's dangerous, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, walking forward to stand next to him. Her Byakugan was active, and her pearly eyes were bright with determination. "That's why I'm staying with you. I don't want you to die."
"I'm a lot less likely to die than you are!" he yelled. "Sasuke isn't going to back down until one of us wins, and he'll kill whoever's in his way! I know how he fights, and I have the Kyuubi's chakra. Look, my wounds are even healing! You don't have that! You could easily be maimed or killed!"
"I know."
Naruto was flabbergasted. He fumed at her, desperately trying to get her to go home and leave this to him. "Is slightly increasing my chance to survive really worth putting your life at such huge risk?"
Hinata regarded him with passionate, unblinking eyes.
"To me, Naruto-kun..." she said, "It's more than worth it. Because to me, your life is as valuable as mine."
No sounds would come out of Naruto's mouth anymore. His jaws worked, but there was something in his throat that prohibited sound waves from leaving. It felt like a large lump.
"How lucky, Naruto," said Sasuke, finally banishing the pain in his mind. "Here's a girl who says she'll do anything for you, at night under starry skies. But you know, our Team Seven has a tradition. After making such a discovery, the discoverer doesn't return to the village."
The Uchiha's cursed seal was pulsing, stretching, encompassing his entire body and wreaking drastic change.
"Since leaving the village on a quest for black power isn't on your to-do list, one can only assume that you had died."
Naruto found his voice again, staring at Sasuke with dread. "Oh, crap... this is really bad."
"Naruto-kun," asked Hinata, "What's he doing?"
"That seal is going up to its second level. He'll be stronger than he ever was before, while I," Naruto grimaced, looking over the sorry state of his hastily-healed wounds and ragged clothes, "Am damned near the limit of my strength."
Hinata looked at Sasuke through the Byakugan. It was true; the Uchiha was several times more powerful.
"Then, what do you plan to do, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto furrowed his brow. "I've only got one idea," he said. "If it works the way it does for Keisuke-nii-chan and Haruka, then it'll up our odds a lot. But, I've never done it before, so I don't know if it will work for me..."
Hinata's eyes grew wide with comprehension. She remembered a time when he had talked about this technique—a jutsu used between two people, that Keisuke and Haruka often used but that Naruto had never tried.
"Naruto-kun, do you mean...?"
"Yeah," Naruto said, "Synch..."
OoOoOoOoO End Chapter Twenty-Six OoOoOoOoO
A/N: You guys probably hate me now. Yet another cliffhanger, and this whole Naruto-Sasuke thing is taking a long time (Four chapters already... geez!). If the length of the conflict annoys you, I'm sorry. There is so much plot revolving around this Sound invasion, I can't do anything about it. I promise, the Naruto-Sasuke fight will be resolved in chapter 27.
I only just got promoted to God (or so one reviewer told me). I don't want to lose rank so quickly. If there's anything you need from me to make it better, please ask.