A/N: Happy Holidays to everyone.
Sadly, I wanted to finish this by Christmas, but hopefully I haven't disappointed.
It was even harder when I wanted to get the fight scene done. Hard to do choreography when it's 5V1 or 4V1 PVP.
Now that the intro's are out of the way, please read and review, would you kindly?
…
[Konohagakure no Sato, 3 years later]
Hiruzen sat at his desk, watching from his crystal ball as Naruto sat in the stands, fiddling with something in his lap while waiting for his turn at finals to come up.
As far as his social life was concerned, he could see that the boy seemed to be getting along fine with quite a few of the students; including the Inuzuka siblings, and Aburame Shino. He was also on good terms with the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio and was at least civil with almost everyone else, especially Hyūga Hinata, who apparently started shadowing him not long after he'd saved her from bullies.
On the other hand, he'd earned the ire of the Sasuke fangirls when he'd beaten the boy in a sparring match. Much like his rival however, the boy had his fair share of fangirls, including Sasuke's own twin sister, which drew the envy of quite a few male students as well. The rivalry that stemmed from that victory led to a constant game of one-upmanship to see who would outdo the other, eventually becoming the only students to use training daggers.
Off-campus, Naruto worked a side-job as a Hunter whenever he wasn't studying or doing homework, as he made frequent visits to the Quest Board in between lessons to find Guild missions appropriate for his level. For this, Hiruzen was thankful that Shirohige had instilled a good work ethic in the boy from an early age by having him help out on gathering missions, which also taught him how to forage. When he first came into the academy, he was already working 1- to 2-star Guild missions, which paid D-rank funds; he was currently capable of working 3-star missions, such as hunting a Yian Kut-ku with or without his Palico for support.
The lifestyle Naruto had grown up with would enable him to perform consistently well in the Sasuke Course. Named after Hiruzen's father, the objective was simple: students had five minutes to traverse a trap-laden obstacle course to sound the bell at the other end. As a show of mercy, students got extra time by arriving at certain checkpoints on the course, and by using the provided shuriken and kunai to accurately hit targets along the way for bonus time. To make things challenging, they were penalized with lost time for missed shots, and were not allowed to use jutsu, the tree-hopping technique or animal partners. There was no need to change up the course, as it covered a wide expanse of forested land, with plenty of hiding spaces for any number of nonlethal traps and targets the teacher wanted to set. While this was a good opportunity to get fresh air, the main point of the exercise was intended to teach the students critical quick- and creative-thinking skills to navigate the many traps hidden in throughout the course. The best time was a good two and a half minutes, which was the exact amount of time it took for Sarutobi Sasuke to reach the target on the mission the obstacle course was based on; the par was five, though the average student managed four minutes and fifty seconds. Naruto's best time was about 3 minutes, twenty-five seconds, which was well above average.
As far as sparring went, Naruto was one of the more feared opponents in the ring, though he'd had to hold back his full power to avoid killing the other students. Thus far, besides children from taijutsu-specialized clans, only Uchiha Sasuke and Inuzuka Kiba really made him work for it. He only got more dangerous when it came to sparring with training daggers.
The academic lessons on the other hand, were a different story. By Hiruzen's recollection, only one student so far had managed to graduate by merit of having the second-fastest time on the obstacle course -at 3 minutes, ten seconds!- and a near-spotless sparring record. In reality, if he didn't have Maito Gai as a mentor, that Rock Lee boy would have been denied his hitai-ate for failing his practical exams. By no means was Naruto the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was far from stupid; what held him back in the previous tests was the practical exam, wherein he had to perform the three standard jutsu. In all fairness however, he needed time to get used to the Shinobi life and the use of chakra to cast jutsu; he was however, getting better at the jutsu with every day he managed to get in some practice.
Now came the day where he would show how much of an improvement he'd had. From the times that Naruto was in class, he'd been working somewhat diligently to get better at his jutsu; at this time, the Henge and Kawarimi were both second-nature to him…it was the Bunshin that gave him the most trouble, having failed to make a working Bunshin twice.
Everyone else had managed to do the three required jutsu to varying levels of success; most just performed the jutsu separately and simply got it over with, though some went out of their way to perform their own variation of those three jutsu expedite it. Being from clans that specialized in the use of animal partners, it was no surprise that the Inuzuka siblings and Aburame Shino all performed their own variations or combinations of the Henge and Kawarimi no jutsu. The Uchiha twins worked together to do all three at once, which was quite the spectacle in his eyes, combining Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin no Jutsu to create an up-scaled shell game.
Up came Naruto's turn, his hands flying through jutsu. It was no surprise that he was able to do the Henge and Kawarimi no jutsu with little trouble; merging the two confidently as he and Taeko partnered up for the act, as the two of them vanished in a puff of smoke. What appeared in their place caused a massive nosebleed both from Iruka's and his own nose as they both saw a pair of buxom, muscular women: one was blonde, her hair done up in twin-tails that went down to her waist and the upper half of her face covered in a baby-blue mask; her partner's black hair was simply bobbed just short of chin-length. Both of them were bent over, their well-muscled buttocks touching as they squatted low, looking back at Iruka with a come-hither look in their eyes. What little modesty they had was covered by the dissipating smoke.
"Get serious, you two!" Iruka shouted, his face red with embarrassment and anger as he cracked their skulls together to dispel the jutsu. Both women disappeared in a puff of smoke, their heads replaced with a pair of chalkboard erasers.
Naruto and Taeko stood nearby, laughing at the teacher's expense.
"All right you two, you've had your laugh, now there's only one more jutsu for Naruto to complete," Iruka said with a good-humored sigh, "If he can use the Bunshin no Jutsu to create at least two clones, he passes."
Naruto took a deep breath, before flying through the requisite hand seals and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Eight figures emerged from the clearing smoke, followed by one duplicate that looked like he'd picked a fight with a particularly ill-tempered monster. The eight healthy duplicates looked down, and then at each other with a grin on their faces before dissipating back into smoke.
"You managed to get seven clones working," Iruka acknowledged, "Though I have to ask…why that sick one?"
"Well, I was practicing the Bunshin no Jutsu out in the park yesterday," Naruto explained, "I only managed to get the one that was messed-up every time, until I saw a poster that said something like 'don't be afraid to think big.' So instead of trying to put out one clone with all my chakra, I decided to try putting out at least three clones with less in each this time."
"That was a bit of a gamble, trying out something new this late in the game," replied the teacher, "And it paid off; just make sure you get better at it."
Taeko jumped with joy, springing into the air high enough to meet her master midway for a high-five.
it was by sheer dumb luck that Naruto passed, which brought an amused smile to Hiruzen's wizened features. That said, he had to give the boy a lot of credit for improving so much in three years; now the experiment could really begin.
…
[Hunter's Guild, later that night]
There was more business than usual in the Konoha Guild Hunting Hall. Due to the fact that the Shinobi clans that were more closely associated with the Guild were in attendance to celebrate the graduation of the clan heirs; while the Inuzuka clan was more vocal in their merriment, the Aburame simply settled down, silently watching festivities. There was quite a bit of drinking in the Hall, though anyone that was underage had to settle with a special fermented honey tea concocted by the Aburame for special occasions.
Naruto sat at a kid's table with the Inuzuka siblings, Shino, Taeko, and Hinata, each of them with a wooden tankard in hand filled with the Aburame honey tea, toasting with the rest of the party, plates filled with enough food for a hunter prepping for an expedition in front of them. Around the perimeter of the turntable were thick cuts of ox tongue drizzled in an onion gravy; a winter melon used as a container for snake and abalone soup; fried shrimp and walnuts drizzled in a honey-mayonnaise sauce and sesame seeds. The centerpiece of the feast was a tower of fried and spiced short ribs.
"Congrats, everyone!" he said, toasting his tankard, "We are now officially Shinobi!"
"Here, here!" Ashi toasted back.
As the six of them downed their tea, Naruto started digging into the meal with his friends. He would have invited the Uchiha twins if not for the fact that their clan had already planned a celebration of their own, especially since their older brother Itachi had come back from a contract in the Old World. He envied Natsuki in that she had actual blood relatives that loved and cherished her…even if her twin brother was a bit of a jerk to him in school. As to her parents, he hadn't seen them enough to have an opinion of them, though he did know that their mom was a very nice lady…their dad, however, never seemed to smile for some reason.
Because her family wasn't there to congratulate her, Naruto extended the invitation to Hinata; while she was grateful, the poor girl seemed indecisive, contemplating as to whether or not she wanted to come until her teacher intervened, saying that she'd love to come. It was adorable how Hinata turned beet-red, sputtering nervously when Kurenai accepted the invite on her behalf━doubly so since she did it from right next to her ear. He was also quick to catch the amusement on the jōnin's face as she left with a bearded Shinobi.
Still, he was happy for whatever blessings life had given to him; he'd lost his parents as a baby during the Kyūbi attack, and got a family in the Guild, especially with Pops doing his best to make sure he grew up right. While he'd had more than his fair share of people being mean to him, the fact that he had friends made it worth staying in Konoha, which made his family bigger in a sense.
The festive air in the Hunting Hall vanished the second the gigantic double-doors were slammed open, a Shinobi rushing in with a panicked expression on his face. The noise had died down as he panted, trying to catch his breath.
"We have an emergency!" he barked in between breaths, "A Hyūga child has been kidnapped!"
"What happened?" asked Shirohige from the back of the hall.
"She was last seen being escorted by her guards back to the compound after training," began the messenger, "Somebody ambushed the escort with senbon, and quickly grabbed her. Not too long afterwards, witnesses saw Mizuki heading into the wilderness with a sack over his shoulder, claiming to be going out camping; the guards at the north entrance were found dead shortly after. After that, we surmised that Mizuki had orchestrated the kidnapping, and knocked out the Hyūga guards; judging by his trajectory, we think he's heading for Kumogakure."
"What's the girl's name?" Hinata asked, louder than anyone else in the hall.
"I think it was Hanabi…yes, I'm certain of it, it was the heiress, Hyūga Hanabi!"
As he inspected his surroundings, he could see the anger on the faces of everyone present. It was already bad enough that a little girl was kidnapped; that he would even try to take a clan heiress spoke volumes of the lows that Mizuki was willing to stoop. As many issues as the Hunters of Hi no Kuni had with their Shinobi neighbors, they still took exception to kidnapping in any shape or form. It was no surprise then that they were sometimes asked to aid in a manhunt.
Looking at Hinata, Naruto felt no small modicum of shock as her concern had melted into fury. When she defended him, she was like a brave Huntress taking on an enraged monster; at the moment, her mood was more like a Rathian that found out her egg was stolen, and Mizuki was the fool Hunter that was caught red-handed. Whoever this girl Hanabi was, she was important enough to Hinata that word of her kidnapping had turned the normally shy girl into a storm of righteous fury.
"Say no more," Shirohige announced, "The Konoha Hunter's Guild will find that kidnapper and help the Shinobi bring him to justice."
"Shirohige-sama!" Hinata called out, "I...I want to join the search too!"
The old Wyverian raised an eyebrow in curiosity, before furrowing them in anger. "You say that now, but what's to say that Mizuki won't see this as an opportunity to double his profits? Are you willing to risk being kidnapped to save a girl from a clan that disowned you? Don't kid yourself, girl!"
"I…I'm aware of the risks," Hinata assured, working up the courage to look back at Shirohige, "But that is exactly what I am counting on. If Mizuki is greedy enough to brave my clan for more glory, then surely he will let down his guard for an even bigger chance to rub it in everyone's faces."
"And if you still won't let her, I'll go with her," Naruto added, standing up himself.
"We'll come too!" Ashi said, her brother and their canine companions sitting up in unison.
"If necessary, I shall accompany them as well," Shino said, sitting up, "It is logical to have as many trackers on this as possible."
Everything was silent between them, the tension building up as Shirohige looked into each of their eyes, trying to see what the other would do. Naruto had seen Pops do this once or twice whenever anyone challenged his decisions…most would have withered under his stare if they didn't have the confidence to back them up. In all honesty, he could see that they were all scared, but they were doing their best to not back down.
After a minute, Shirohige finally relaxed, frown turning into an amused grin. "Let them come with…time to see what these genin are made of." At this, he addressed everyone in the Hunting Hall. "Everyone! If you volunteer to join in the search, make your preparations and move out…start your search to the northeast; we'll rescue that little girl before the night is over."
More than half of the Hunters present in the Hunting Hall answered the call; the others would stay behind to ensure that bandits wouldn't get any funny ideas. Most of the ones who answered the call made a break for the armory, but a few pulled out sealing scrolls, summoning weapons that would be equally useful against both humans and monsters alike. Naruto could see a variety of weapons being gathered in the Hunting Hall; axes, swords, hammers, anything that was considered a Light hunting weapon that was useful against humans and small monsters alike.
Naruto summoned a short, single-edged sword from his own scroll with a broad, slightly curved blade and a thick spine. Its full-tang grip was ergonomically shaped with two-tone horn and antler slabs to better accommodate one-handed use, and fitted with a boot-shaped pommel and S-guard with side rings. Whenever it wasn't being used as an impromptu machete, or used to defend its owner from bandits and monsters, it was kept in a wood and leather sheath.
It was complemented with a large knife in a different sheath with dedicated pockets for an eating knife and fork set with the same two-tone horn and antler slabs as the sword. It was a full-tang, drop point blade with a fuller that was furnished with all the same fittings as the other pieces of cutlery save for a steel bolster instead of a guard and the lack of a pommel. Like all Hunter knives, it was long and wide enough to do the work of a machete while still short enough to be portable, keen enough to easily skin and butcher large game on-site, and thick and durable enough to withstand all forms of punishment. When wielded with the sword, Naruto would use the pair as an improvised set of Dual Blades if by some ill fortune his go-to weapon was not available.
He also summoned a weapon for Taeko, resembling a large cleaver on a stick, with a thick, reverse-tanto style blade attached to one end, a brass spike on the other and a leather wrap in the middle of a thick, wooden haft. A battle axe fit for a Palico.
On top of his and Taeko's armaments, he also summoned a customized suit of armor from the scroll, along with a harness to carry his knife and short sword, and a satchel. The armor itself was made mostly of overlapping reddish-orange scales from a Yian Kut-ku, over strong linens; most notably on the cuirass and pauldrons, which were worn over a brigandine vest. Smaller plates of reddish-orange scales made up the fauld, gauntlets and greaves, riveted to a padded layer made from the Bird Wyvern's leathery underbelly. The head and neck protection was made from the skull of the creature, the large beak and its underbite forming the visor and gorget respectively. With every piece of the armor he put on, Naruto could feel his strength and vigor increasing ever-so-slightly; it wasn't a large improvement, but still noticeable.
Once all preparations were made, Naruto and his party of eight joined the Hunters in the search for Mizuki and the kidnapped Hyūga girl. Shino and Kiba went one way, while Naruto, Ashi, and Hinata went the other.
As Naruto cleared the way with his knife, Ashi and Hinata followed closely behind him and Taeko, keeping an eye out for Mizuki. Naruto, Taeko, and Ashi's Palamute Himiko were at the front, following the trail.
A sharp 'snap' was heard nearby, causing the small team to freeze in place, tension rising as they listened to dead silence shortly before another 'snap' was heard, this time behind a nearby tree. Naruto quietly walked up to the tree, knife held in the reverse grip. In one quick motion, he reached around the trunk and pulled the target around by the shoulder, knife raised in the air as he pinned the person to the tree trunk. The only thing that stopped him from following through with the stab was the fact that he quickly recognized the intruder.
"Natsuki?"
"Hey there, Naruto-kun," answered the girl nervously, "You mind putting that thing down?"
"What're you doing out here?" he asked, lowering his knife as he released his grip on her.
"The Uchiha Clan was called up to look for the kidnapped heiress," Natsuki replied, massaging her neck, "Sasuke-nii and I volunteered to be part of the search party. I'm assuming you're all out here for the same reason?"
Naruto nodded, looking around. "Where is Sasuke, anyway? I normally don't see you without him skulking around."
"Sasuke-nii and I split up on the way here," replied the heiress, "Figured we could cover more ground. We agreed to meet up at a village somewhere up ahead."
"You're welcome to join us," Naruto offered, "Now let's keep going before the trail goes cold."
Natsuki nodded in agreement, as the six of them traversed the forest to find the Hyūga heiress.
…
[Hokage's Office]
Hiruzen sat in his office with a cup of tea and a pipe in hand, watching in the crystal ball with a well-contained fury as the Shinobi and Hunter search parties combed the great forest for signs of the kidnapped Hyūga Hanabi. On the one hand, it was a good thing that the Shinobi and Hunters had come together to deal with a common enemy…on the other, it was a repeat of the same ordeal Hinata had gone through six years ago.
It also brought up quite a few questions on his mind: after the last Hyūga Incident, the clan had stepped up security for all Main House members, and especially the heiress. Competent as Mizuki was, he wasn't skilled enough to effortlessly take on that many highly competent Hyūga guards, and still have strength left over to abduct poor Hanabi. The fact that he was able to pull off an ambush like this in the first place meant that Mizuki had someone on the inside helping him out; a thought ignited Hiruzen's wrath.
It also meant that he'd been planning this for quite some time; the fact that Mizuki was able to do this at all spoke of at least a month's worth of planning…maybe even a year. That was more than enough time to observe the patrol patterns, and commit them to heart, while also seeing which guards were going to be on the detail at the time.
The old Kage was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the buzz from his intercom. "What is it, Ayumi?"
"Hokage-sama, Shimura Danzo's here to see you."
Hiruzen sighed in frustration, setting aside the crystal ball. "Let him in."
The door opened, allowing a heavily-bandaged old man with an x-shaped scar on his chin to walk in. "What is it now, Danzo?"
"I've come to get updates on the situation," answered the old man.
"It's progressing fairly well," replied Hiruzen, his patience at his limit with his colleague, "But that's not why you've come, is it?"
"I come bearing gifts," Danzo said simply, "I have information on the whereabouts of Mizuki's co-conspirators."
"What's the catch?" asked the Hokage, sagely. Knowing Danzo, he probably wouldn't be doing this out of the goodness of his vacant heart.
"Only that you cease your investigation on all Root operations," replied the elder, "And to return all confiscated assets you have found."
And there it was. "Nothing I can do about the assets; they've already been used as payment to Shirohige."
"The investigation then," Danzo countered, "My operatives cannot do their work if their hands are tied by your Internal Affairs investigation into my Root cell's operations."
"Your operatives' hands are tied because of an abducted Huntress…a Konoha-born Huntress!" Hiruzen reminded, his voice taking on a harder edge, "We haven't found any definitive proof that this incident was your doing, but I wouldn't be surprised if you signed off on it━not once have you approved of Guild operations in our part of the world, nor did you respect their neutrality to our conflicts. If I hadn't given Shirohige your money as compensation and my assurances that it wouldn't happen again, he would have pulled every Hunter out of Hi no Kuni and left us to the mercy of the monsters━or worse, the Elder Dragons. So if I were you, I'd pray that the Huntress your cult abducted is still alive, because those investigations are the least of your worries right now."
Danzo remained unaffected by the tear-down. "If that's how it's going to be, then I will take my leave."
"We're not done yet," Hiruzen pointed out sharply, "You've already been treading on ice with your cell's actions as of late, and that abduction only made things worse for you. If you care about the village like you say you do, you will sit down and start talking; if you don't, I will escalate that investigation into a full-blown house-cleaning operation and kill you on the spot."
Hiruzen watched as Danzo settled down in his seat. The only reason he'd let him form up his Root cell in the first place was due to the fact that there were much darker operations than ones undertaken by normal ANBU operatives. It was only after the sudden abduction of that Huntress that, like old Shirohige, he'd started to question whether it was worth it in the long run to keep the cell active…or if ROOT simply needed to be restructured without Danzo at the helm.
One way or another, he'd need to deal with ROOT eventually.
…
[Konoha Wilderness]
After nearly half an hour of careful searching, they found a sack in a clearing that was struggling up against a tree. There didn't seem to be anyone in the area…just an open clearing of grass illuminated by the moonlight. There was no doubt as to who was in the sack, but Mizuki was nowhere to be found.
"Looks clear," Naruto whispered, looking through their hiding place.
"But it seems too easy?" Ashi finished, sensing his doubts. Naruto nodded in response.
"I'll use my Byakugan to see if there's anything we should be aware of," Hinata offered.
"And I'll help," Natsuki added, "Two pairs of eyes are better than one."
Naruto nodded. "Do it, we'll keep watch."
Hinata and Natsuki flew through hand seals, activating their respective dōjutsu. They needed to be fast in order to avoid using up too much chakra should something go horribly wrong.
"I see the sack, and it looks like Hanabi is inside," noted Hinata, deactivating her Byakugan, "I don't see any traps in the area, but she is bound and gagged in the sack and her own Byakugan is active. She sees us, and doesn't want us to come."
"It doesn't look like she's fake," added Natsuki, doing the same, "The chakra system seems to be correct, so it's not a bunshin. I don't like this…a kidnapper that's gone as far as Mizuki has wouldn't leave his prize behind so easily."
"Yeah, definitely not," Naruto replied matter-of-factly, "We need to get ready to move in; Ashi, you and Himiko are going to stay close in cover; I need you two to keep an eye out…if something happens, you'll be our backup." At this, Ashi and her Palamute nodded in assent. Naruto then turned his attention to Natsuki, Hinata, and Taeko. "We're gonna have to do this quickly, so once we get there and free Hanabi, we're getting the hell out of there. Mizuki left that sack behind for a reason, so we need to be ready to fight our way out if we have to."
Everyone nodded in agreement, preparing for the task at hand. Ashi and Himiko rushed to a different location near the clearing, keeping eyes open for trouble. Naruto drew his short sword, gripping his knife in the offhand while Taeko sheathed her axe across her back. Natsuki and Hinata both activated their dōjutsu, the former drawing a kunai from her pouch in preparation for a fight. With their positions clear, Naruto, Taeko, Hinata, and Natsuki crouched low to the ground, ready to sprint across the clearing.
In one second, the four of them rushed across the clearing encountering no resistance before coming to a stop at the tree. Naruto, Taeko, and Natsuki surrounded Hinata, weapons ready while keeping an eye open for intruders as she freed the girl from the sack, pulling the gag out of her mouth.
"Neechan!" whispered the girl desperately.
"It's okay, Hanabi, I'm here," Hinata assured, working quickly to untie the little girl.
"No, he's still here!"
Hinata looked to her sister in surprise, wondering what she meant when a shadow loomed above them. Naruto was the first to react, stabbing Mizuki with his knife and following through with a swipe of his sword; not long after, Mizuki disappeared in an explosion of smoke, leaving behind a bifurcated log.
"Everyone, duck!" Natsuki shouted.
After he recovered from the missed strike, Naruto watched as the traitorous teacher reappeared not too far away, hurling a gigantic shuriken at the four of them. Hinata shielded her sister from the projectile, covering the Hyūga heiress's head as she and her companions ducked under the spinning shuriken. The giant blade whizzed through the air over their heads before embedding in the trunk of the tree.
As they got back up, they quickly found Mizuki standing on a branch above them, a sadistic grin on his face as he looked down on them. It was clear that he'd been fighting before the Genin search party had arrived; there were a few cuts here and there on his person, and his flak jacket looked like it'd seen better days. The most definitive wound he'd suffered seemed to be the light trickle of blood on his abdomen where Naruto had apparently tried to stab him; that it didn't seem to bother him implied that it was just a graze.
"Not bad," he said, mockingly, "I had thought that Hunters were inferior in all respects to Shinobi; looks like I was just careless." He turned his attention to Hinata and Natsuki. "Looks like I'm really gonna have to work for it if I wanna triple Kumogakure's rewards!"
"It doesn't surprise me that you would do this," Naruto answered, "There was always something off about you."
Mizuki snorted. "If only Iruka were as smart as you, he'd have lived a bit longer."
"What was that?" Naruto asked, eyes narrowing.
"It's as I said…that meddlesome shit Iruka fought me, and died at my hands!" taunted the former teacher.
Naruto fell silent for a moment, his eyes staying on Mizuki. "I always knew you were a liar, Mizuki; I never trusted you in class, and I'm not gonna start now."
Mizuki let out a light cackle. "And what do you know of liars when you've been lied to your whole life, you ignorant brat? I mean, do you even know the truth of why you are hated so mu-?"
Before he could say another word, Naruto changed the grip on his knife and threw it at the traitor like a miniature javelin, effortlessly piercing through Mizuki's forehead. "I don't care if it's the truth, I don't wanna hear it from you!"
Seconds after his attempt on the treacherous teacher's life, Mizuki vanished in a puff of smoke, replaced with yet another log with his knife embedded. As Naruto turned around, he wildly swung his sword horizontally, forcing Mizuki to backstep from the attempt to eviscerate him; upon landing, Mizuki reached for a second gigantic shuriken holstered on his his back, only to see a pair of whirlwinds careening in the air towards him. He hopped further back, grabbing the shuriken and hurling it at high speeds towards the tree, his satisfaction momentarily turning into shock, as the whirlwinds redirected their momentum to surround the shuriken and send it into the ground. As the whirlwinds landed, he saw that he was facing down two copies of Ashi, who were quickly joined by one Uchiha Natsuki and Taeko who breached the soil from below, trying to stab his legs.
"Hinata," Naruto said, pulling his knife out of the log, "I'm gonna join them, make an opening for you and Hanabi to book it."
"B-But Naruto-kun…"
"Mizuki kidnapped your sister to hurt the village," Naruto reminded, looking back at Hinata, "And if I'm being honest, Konoha can burn as far as I'm concerned; I'm just living there with the people that I do care about. So you get Hanabi to safety, or we'll have come this far for nothing."
Hinata was silent, nodding in assent with a steely resolve in her eyes as she held hands with her sister. Both of them ran in the opposite direction they'd come from, Naruto bolting towards the fight with blades in hand, while the sisters were trailing slightly behind him. "I'll try to bring back reinforcements!" she shouted, running hand in hand with Hanabi past Naruto, "Until then, don't die!"
As they passed by, Mizuki turned his attention to Hinata and Hanabi, giving Naruto an opening to rush him with both blades. "Where do you think you're looking?!" Naruto barked.
Mizuki was barely able to backstep at the last moment and avoid getting filleted, but the strength behind the sword cut through the ceramic layer of his flak jacket, rendering its frontal protection useless. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse, Natsuki kicked him from behind, putting Mizuki in the path of Ashi and her doppelganger, both a whirlwind of slicing claws; there was no time for Mizuki to escape, as both duplicates rent away what remained of his flak jacket, and little bits of his chest in one pass. Recovering from the attempt to kill him, Mizuki struggled to stay standing, glaring balefully at the genin and their animal companions that surrounded him.
"You really oughta finish work before chasing after girls," Naruto taunted.
That Mizuki fumed in rage. The fact that he, a Chūnin, had been driven into a corner by a group of newly-minted Genin and their meddlesome pets was already bad enough…that he was damn-near killed by -and because of!- Uzumaki Naruto and his mangy feline only served to infuriate him further. As the greenhorns charged in, he reached into his pocket to pull out a vial filled with a red liquid, popped the cork, and downed its contents in a single gulp; the effects were almost instantaneous, as Mizuki reeled in agony. The sounds of bones cracking, and flesh tearing filled the air as his body rapidly reshaped itself━once the pain had reached its threshold, Mizuki threw his head back, letting out a scream that could be heard from far away.
The newly-minted Genin flinched, protecting their ears; as the noise died down, they looked upon Mizuki with horror. Much of his torso and his arms were covered in layers of thick muscle; his legs had turned from a plantigrade stance to digitigrade; his ears terminated in points like a cat. He looked much more like a Tigrex than a man, his entire body covered in gritty orange scales with bright blue stripes, and along his long muscular tail. Mizuki took a deep breath, and let out a deep, rumbling roar that pushed Naruto and his team back slightly; as they recoiled from the noise, he took advantage of the opening to rush Naruto, sending him flying with a punch in the face.
Natsuki was able to hop away, flying through five hand seals before settling on the 'tora' as she inhaled. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
Upon exhaling, Natsuki blew a jet of flaming chakra at Mizuki that coalesced into a gradually expanding fireball. Mizuki pounced from the conflagration, grinning maniacally as he grabbed the Uchiha heiress by her shirt, lifting her above his head. "I've been infused with the DNA of a Tigrex," he taunted, cackling madly, "Your jutsu can't penetrate my hide with that level of flame!"
Mizuki reared back to throw Natsuki into a tree only for Taeko to leap in from the side, breaking her fall with a tackle. This gave Ashi and her doppelganger an opportunity to perform the Inuzuka clan's unique taijutsu, only for Mizuki to quickly grab both and smash their heads into each other, dispelling the jutsu and revealing one of them to be Himiko.
"So this is what it feels like to be a monster!" he gloated, "Such power!"
His victorious cackling suddenly turned into a brief cry of pain when Naruto and Taeko slashed at his ankles with their blades; they quickly recovered from their attack and were about to slash at his chest before they were batted away with a tail swipe. Mizuki was unable to counter when Hinata rushed in from nowhere, and hit him in the chest with her Jūken before he kicked her away.
The Hunter-Palico duo landed on their feet, catching Hinata as she careened through the air towards them. Naruto and Taeko pulled a small bottle from their respective satchels, quickly gulping down a golden-brown liquid in unison as they stood up to face Mizuki, his arms and legs fumbling
"I've hit him in tenketsu points that are supposed to disrupt his motor functions," explained Hinata, "If he tries to move his right hand, he'll move his left knee instead."
"How long do we have until he's at full power?" asked Ashi, nursing Himiko and her own head.
"I don't know," replied Hinata, "It depends on how quickly the target can regain control. It could be five minutes."
"What're you doing back here?" Naruto asked, pulling out a bag from his satchel, "Where's Hanabi?"
"We were being chased by one of Mizuki's Doton Bunshin," answered Hinata, "Iruka-sensei saved us, and is looking for anyone to come help while getting Hanabi to safety."
As he spread the healing dust in the air, Naruto felt a momentary relief in his heart at the news that Iruka was still alive, before regaining his focus. "Mizuki's turned himself into a monster, so now we need to fight him like one if we're gonna get out of this alive," he said, rolling his shoulders, "Stay smart, help each other out, and stick to Taijutsu and Bukijutsu; don't bother with Ninjutsu unless you're totally sure you can hit him really hard. Now let's go!"
Naruto, Taeko, Hinata, Ashi, and Natsuki readied their weapons and fists, then charged Mizuki as he moved sluggishly; his punches were slow, but gradually got faster as he got used to the disruption in his tenketsu points. While their teamwork wasn't perfect, the erstwhile Genin team was able to help each other avoid unnecessary hits while punishing Mizuki for every mistake; Naruto and Taeko danced around clumsy tail-swipes to swing at his legs while also cutting into his tail. Natsuki and Ashi slashed at his torso with chakra-infused claws and kunai while avoiding his clumsy punches. Hinata used her Byakugan and Jūken to disrupt his movements with highly-focused chakra needles to his tenketsu points.
After nearly five minutes of prolonged fighting, Mizuki's movements were dulled by a combination of exhaustion, accelerated mutations, disrupted motor functions, and rage. Taeko hopped over a tail-swipe before cleaving off Mizuki's tail in one heavy chop, followed by Natsuki and Ashi stabbing their respective weapons into his thighs. Seeing the opportunity to finish off their target, Hinata sent a heavy, chakra-dense Jūken strike to his sternum, while Naruto leaped in to stab him in the back with his knife and sword. Mizuki let out a loud roar of pain, sending the four Genin and the palico flying in all directions.
As the four of them recovered, they watched Mizuki stalking towards Naruto with rage in his eyes, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists. He paused mid-step, a gout of pain flaring throughout his body, and he fell to his face, screaming and thrashing in agony. Blood vessels bulged throughout his body as his muscles and bones contracted at a rapid rate. His scales peeled off as he took on a darkened, shriveled appearance; within minutes, Mizuki had turned from an excessively muscled man in his late twenties, to a decrepit old man dying suddenly from apparent heart failure.
Naruto looked to the rest of his impromptu team, a softened expression on his face. "...Is everyone okay?"
"I'm fine," answered Taeko, slumping to the ground tired, "I just need to recu-paw-rate."
"Same here," replied Ashi.
Hinata and Natsuki simply answered with an affirmative 'hn' as they fell on their backs to look at the stars, savoring their victory.
…
[Hokage's Office]
Hiruzen looked into his crystal ball with no small amount of pride. It was a hard fight, but they were able to survive; even better, there would be no international incident this time. With any luck, this streak of good luck would continue in Naruto's future.
He sighed as he put away his crystal ball. The incident would serve to re-establish ties between the Shinobi and Hunters. His job on that end was made easier by the fact that someone had to know where Hanabi's escort would have gone, which meant that Konoha had a mole in their midst and he had a pretty good idea which village they were from.
As far as Danzo's intel was concerned, his own ANBU were able to locate Mizuki's co-conspirators, and deal with them accordingly. In Hiruzen's mind, the traitorous Chūnin's allies had gotten off easy; their deaths were quick as opposed to rapidly aging because of an untested drug.
But now he had a more important task to finish. Figuring out the team placements would be even more difficult.
…
A/N: Here we go, a new chapter for a new year.
…I wonder who caught the cameo in this chapter?
I hope this is still up to standard.
Anyway, I give credit to both NorthSouthGorem and ravenking64 for beta-ing and editing this chapter.
And like in "Hunter Effect" if you have a Hunter that you'd like to show up here, (if only as a cameo), here's the following info I'd like you to enter…
…
Name:
Race: Human or Wyverian (They're the only races we see doing any active hunting)
Gender: No transgenders, please! I highly doubt MonHun-planet or Naruto-verse would have the technology or techniques to do so.
Sexual Identity: Gay? Straight? Bi? Omni?
Age:
Height: In centimeters (please make it believable)
Weight: In kilograms
Body Type: Slim, Muscular?
Skin Color:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Notable Features: Tattoos, scars, amputations, etc.
Personality:
History: Just a little of what they've done before going to the Shinobi Nations, like what was the biggest monster they killed, or where they come from. That, and what they've been doing while in the Shinobi Nations, and how long they've been there. And like in the body measurements, please make it believable.
Guild Branch: Don't tell me who the Guildmaster is, I want to know which Guild Branch in the Shinobi Nations they are active in: Hi no Kuni? Rai no Kuni? There's at least 1 main Guild Headquarters in each of the major Shinobi Nations and an even larger number of Guild Outposts, so pick one locale.
Guild Status: Are they still active? If not, then what do they do now? Are they Guild Knights?
Handler: Do they answer to a Handler, a receptionist, or the Quest Board? If they answer to a Handler, give a brief description of them; name, gender, personality.
Hunter Rank: Are they Low- or High-ranked? Master-ranked perhaps?
Equipment: Just what weapon they normally use, and the armor they wear
Knife: Describe the knife they carry (this is optional)
Palico Name: Name your Hunter's Palico
Palico Description: Describe the physical appearance; tail length, fur thickness, eye color, etc.
Palico Equipment: Describe the Palico's weapon, gear, and armor
Palico Personality: Describe the Palico's demeanor
Voiceover: Optional, but you can choose a Japanese or English VA.