Alright, here we are with chapter 6! Honestly, I'd hoped that this mission would be a longer one, but as I've said before, I suck at lengthening things. Hopefully it'll be out much quicker though, I had a lot more ideas for what to do with this half of the mission than the first. So I'll try to make the mission as juicy as possible before it ends, then we'll head back to Konoha and the exams! I've been looking forward to writing them, for a reason that I really hope you guys enjoy! I personally think it's gonna be fun!
So, answers to some questions... About the harem, I've been thinking about leaving it like it is, people have suggested girls, and while I wouldn't be opposed to those girls joining the village or showing up more, I might just leave the harem as it is with the four girls. It'll probably be more manageable that way, but I might still add someone, no guarantees though. Someone asked if Kaguya would be redeemed at some point, I'm still thinking about it. It's still a long way off, but I'll ponder it for a while. Another person asked if I was gonna give Yuuko some Street Fighter moves like the Shoryuken and the Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku. I could add them in at some point, I wanted Yuuko to have a 'martial artist dragon warrior' vibe and fight like a firebender from Avatar, so they might work out.
Also, not that it was some great mystery after last chapter... someone already figured out how the whole neglected/abandoned element fits in. But I just wanted to reiterate, I'll do my utmost to make it make sense with the story and not be cliche, I swear! I hate the stories where it's done poorly just as much as anyone, so I want to make sure I do it well. If you still don't like it after it's been explained, then fair, I can't change that, just keep an open mind until then, okay?
Lastly there's a lot of fight scenes in this chapter, and I'm sorry if they suck... There's also a hot springs bit in here, and while it wasn't intended to be fanservice, I realized it's almost impossible to write a hot springs scene without it being a little fanservice... So just take it as you will.
Now here we go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other characters or Media that may appear in this story.
Chapter 6: Paging Dr. Frankenstein.
The members of Teams 7 and 9 awoke promptly at the crack of dawn. Upon leaving their tents they found their sensei and Anko talking. Anko turned to them and waved, "Morning brats! Ready to have some fun?"
Tenten groaned, "I don't know if I'd call this fun, but I'm ready to get this creepy mission over with. So what're you guys doing so early in the morning?"
Guy gave them his signature smile, "We've been discussing a possible plan of attack, and we've come up with a fairly good plan, but it could be very dangerous. We feel like it's almost a guarantee that they're waiting for us in that mist, and that we'll be attacked once we head inside the village."
Kakashi nodded, "Yasaka, you'll be in a pretty dangerous position, so if you don't like this plan, then we'll come up with something else." Yasaka nodded confusedly, "We have one extra Genin on Team 7, but they don't know that. So we want you to wait until the fighting starts, then slip past everyone and head into their base to deactivate the mist seal and see what you can find in their base. We won't know what's waiting in there, so we'll understand if you don't want to go inside on your own."
Yasaka shook her head, "I'll be fine. I'll have that seal deactivated in no time flat!" She said with a smirk, "I'll also try to pay a visit to the guy who designed that head-splitting seal!"
Anko gave a grin, "That's my girl! We're also thinking that they'll try and separate is, and with that mist it'll be pretty simple to do it. So if we do end in a situation where we all have to split up, then grab the person next to you and go together. If you find yourselves in trouble then just run and survive until you find another group to link up with. If you manage to take out your enemies then we all meet up in the village square. Lastly, go into it assuming that they have a way of finding us in the mist until you're sure they're as blind as you are, got it?"
Upon receiving nods from everyone, the group, minus Yasaka, turned and made their way into the village. As they made their way toward the orphanage and the trapdoor, they all strained their every sense to try and locate any ambush or attack. They didn't have to wait long as Naruto's ears picked up the almost unnoticeable sound of someone creeping up on him. He spun around and threw a kick at his attacker, "Company's here!" His attacker ended up taking the full force of the attack and flew back into a building. That's when all hell broke loose.
Kunai and shuriken flew out of the mist toward the group, who all quickly either blocked them or dodged. Guy's voice sounded over the group, "Just keep guarding, they'll run out of projectiles eventually, then they'll have to come to us!"
"Gonna be hard to block these!" Someone mocked through the mist as a few kunai struck the ground inside the group. The trademark sizzling of explosive tags entered everyone's ears.
Hinata looked down to them and widened her eyes, before grabbing the arm of the person next to her, Neji, and jumping to the side. The explosive tags went off, forcing everyone to get farther away until the group was completely split up. Hinata and Neji took cover inside a building, "Are you alright?" Hinata asked as the two took a second to catch their breath.
Neji nodded, "I'm Fine."
"Are you sure? There was some shrapnel flying from the explosion, and I pulled on you pretty hard."
"I'm fine, thanks for your concern." Neji said again, a bit of venom working it's way into his tone near the end.
Hinata ignored it and nodded, "Alright. Then we'd best start finding our way back to the others." They both activated their Byakugan, and strangely enough, there was only one person near them... It was a woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in a black formal kimono that fell over her hands and pooled on the ground around her feet, with brown eyes and short shoulder length black hair. She stood in the street, staring at the building they were in, "Um... you see her too, right?"
"I do. She's clearly an enemy, just not a smart one." He said as he walked out of the building.
"Neji-niisan wait!" Sadly, he didn't, and Hinata followed him out onto the street where the woman was waiting for them.
She gave a small bow, "Greetings Konoha shinobi. I am Hikari, and I must say, based on what I know of Konoha's clans, I did not expect a Hyuga to be the medic." She said, looking toward Hinata.
Hinata narrowed her eyes, "How did you know I was the group's medic?"
"You were in the center of the group, there is a small red cross on one of your pouches, and I detect the faintest scent of medicinal herbs coming from said pouch."
"You could smell the herbs in my pouch and see the cross through the mist?"
"My master has enhanced my body beyond that of a normal human." Hikari said simply.
Hinata raised an eyebrow, "Wow, how original..." If Hikari had any reaction to Hinata's jab then she didn't show it.
Neji chose that moment to interrupt, "Can we cease the pointless banter, please? I assume you came after us to get rid of the group's medic?"
She nodded, "Of course. It's basic strategy to eliminate the opponent's healer first." She held up a hand and brandished a handful of senbon, "I will attempt to make it quick."
Yasaka crept through the business district, sticking to the shadows as she made her way toward the orphanage. She'd heard the explosions from where the rest of the group was and got worried for the others, but she had a job to do, and she just had to have faith that they would be alright. As she approached the orphanage and the sounds of battle started to fade into the distance, she started feeling people entering her sensory range. She'd have to go in quietly... Before going any further, she made a single handsign, "Meisaigakure no Jutsu." She whispered as her body seemed to blend into the mist. She crouched low to the ground and activated a pair of seals on her sandals, making her footsteps impossible to detect. Yasaka finally reached the low wall and gate surrounding the orphanage, and crept near to a pair of shinobi near the gate. Yasaka closed her eyes and listened carefully as they talked.
"You think they'll win?"
"Of course they will, our entire group, minus us and the boss are out there. We have the numbers advantage over them, plus with Hikari-sama out there..."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about her... No way they'll be able to kill her."
"Right, and even if they do, they can't kill the boss."
"...That shit still gives me the creeps..."
Yasaka's brow furrowed as they talked, hopefully the others would be alright, for now she had to work on getting into the base. She slowly moved over the wall and into the orphanage yard, narrowing her eyes at the two shinobi standing standing near the gate. Should she take them out? On one hand, she could easily slip past them and get into the base with relatively no issues, there were only a handful of other shinobi patrolling around and inside the orphanage. On the other hand, if things went south inside the base then she could find herself overwhelmed when these guys stormed in... Taking them out it is.
Yasaka picked up a small rock from the ground and looked around the area before silently drawing Yume and moving toward the building, pressing herself into the wall. She then tapped the stone against the wall before dropping it, making one of the guards turn, "What was that?"
"Oh calm down, this place is old as hell. It was probably just a piece falling off."
"...I'm gonna go check it out just to make sure."
The other guard just scoffed as he moved toward her warily. Say what you want, at least he was doing his job, sadly he wouldn't get any points for it as he finally reached close enough to Yasaka. Like a cobra, she lunged forward, driving Yume through the base of his neck. He struggled for a second before dropping as Yasaka withdrew Yume. After he fell to the ground, Yasaka moved toward his companion, and swiftly stabbed him through the heart. Without wasting any time, she raced toward the next guard, who was just about to round the corner. He didn't even have time to notice the bodies before Yasaka flew past him, slicing his head off with one clean blow. Her next target was down at the other end of the building, facing the side, so she brought her sword up, and drove it into his side, under his arm, stabbing through the lungs and heart. The final guard had been up on the roof, and watched two of his comrades killed before he realized what was happening. He stumbled and watched as this invisible... demon jumped off the ground, and just as he started running, an invisible weight landed on his shoulders. He could only widen his eyes as Yasaka stabbed his shoulder down into his rib cage with Yume.
As he fell, Yasaka jumped back down onto the ground and walked toward the hole in the building, flicking the blood off of Yume as she went. People might not realize it from her bright colored appearance, sword, and love of fighting, but Yasaka was Team 7's stealth expert, as quick as she was efficient. She had no love of killing, which was why she tried to make every blow a quick kill, some small form of mercy from the demon, she supposed. Yasaka made her way into the dining hall to find the trapdoor already opened, and quickly made her way down.
It took a few minutes to reach the bottom of the steps, she looked around, finding herself in pretty much what she expected. A stone hallway with other hallways splitting off at random intervals and a few rooms scattered throughout. It was surprisingly well lit, with speakers, most likely for an intercom system. As she was about to start exploring, a voice sounded over the speaker.
"Welcome to my humble home, Shinobi-kun! If you'd like to dispel the camouflage technique you may, unlike my associates outside, I can sense you, so it's pretty much useless." The voice said, Yasaka instantly didn't like him. She frowned in annoyance and deactivated her technique, looking up at one of the cameras, "Ah, much better! Now then Kunoichi-chan, feel free to explore the facility all you'd like, however you should know that what you're looking for is in my laboratory, everything important in the facility is here."
"You're being awfully helpful, I think you need someone to teach you how to set a trap." Yasaka said, crossing her arms.
"Oh it's no trap, I have no need to set a trap, you can't kill me, so please feel free to explore the facility then come to my lab and we can get this little song and dance over with. Just follow that main hallway all the way to the end and you'll arrive at my laboratory. Please don't keep me waiting too long Kunoichi-chan!" With that, the intercom shut off.
Yasaka's eye twitched as she started walking down the hallway, creating clones to explore all the other hallways and rooms she came across. Then, she finally arrived at the end, finding herself in front of a large wooden door. She waited for her clones to dispel, receiving nothing interesting, much to her chagrin. Nothing but empty bedrooms, a mess hall, operating rooms, and a few random storage rooms. Deciding to take a page out of Naruto's book, Yasaka created a clone to open the door as she stood back. It became clear that there were no traps as the door easily swung open with nothing happening. The clone dispelled and Yasaka walked in, finding herself in a large open room, with a high ceiling. Lastly, there were tables pushed to the edges of the room, each with a dead body covered in seals on it.
"Welcome Kunoichi-chan! My name is Mayuri, tell me, what do you think of my laboratory?"
Yasaka looked to the other end of the room, watching as a man spread his arms in a grand welcoming gesture. He was wearing beige monk's robes, complete with the prayer beads. He was completely bald, and would've looked like a typical monk, aside from the tattoos made to look like stitches going across his body. They wrapped around points on his body to make it look like they were stitched on, his arms, legs, and even one on his head. Lastly, his eyes were closed, or appeared to be.
Yasaka glared, "I couldn't care less about your lab in all honesty, what I do care about is finding the asshat who designed the seals we found on that poor civilian."
"Oh, would you be referring to these seals?" He asked as he channeled a bit of chakra, making the array on his body become visible.
"Yes, those ones, who made them?"
"Me."
"You?"
"Me."
"...YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" His eyes widened as Yasaka shot at him like a bullet, forcing him to dodge as she slashed at him with Yume, "THAT GODDAMN TRAVESTY OF SEAL WORK GAVE ME A MIGRAINE YOU ASSHOLE, MY UZUMAKI BLOOD BURNS WITH THE DESIRE TO SEE YOU SUFFER!"
"WHOA, CALM DOWN!" He screamed as he kept frantically dodging her attacks.
"NEVER!"
After a few minutes of that, Yasaka finally stopped and leapt back, "Sorry, just had to get that out."
"Oh it's no trouble, I had the same reaction when I was trying to teach the others here how to make the seals. Also I must say, it's a pleasure to know that my array stumped an Uzumaki! Though you didn't have the whole array so it's understandable you wouldn't get it." He said in a surprisingly collected manner.
Yasaka raised an eyebrow, "Oh, may I see the rest of the array?"
He waggled a finger at her, "Sorry, not that easy."
"I figured." She said as she got into her stance. Mayuri didn't say anything as he settled into his own taijutsu stance. Without any more words, they clashed, Mayuri throwing kicks and punches, while Yasaka slashed with her sword. As they fought, it became apparent to Yasaka that she was the superior fighter. So knowing she had other things to do, Yasaka shot toward him and drove Yume directly into his forehead and out the back of his head, "Well, that was anticlimactic."
"...Don't be so sure, Uzumaki-chan."
Yasaka's eyes widened as she pulled Yume free and jumped back, watching as Mayuri poked at the new hole through his head, "What the fuck!?" She put her hands together in the ram sign, "Kai!" then let out a pulse of chakra. Sadly, nothing changed.
Mayuri gave her a knowing smile, "This is no illusion Uzumaki-chan. This is the result of all my work here, immortality!"
"You're lying, nobody is really immortal!"
His smile changed to a dangerous smirk, "Well... You aren't." They then resumed their battle, with Yasaka now on the defensive. Mayuri no longer seemed to care that Yasaka was the stronger one, he was powering through all of her attacks, and nothing seemed to keep him down! Finally, Yasaka had enough.
"Well, the head didn't work, so let's try everything else!" Her chains flew out of her sleeves, catching Mayuri off guard. He struggled against them as Yasaka created a few clones, but before he could try to get away, he was stabbed through the heart, liver, both lungs, and the throat. Sadly, he was still alive with that damnable smirk on his face, he tried to speak, but the wounds to his lungs and throat prevented it, "Oh come on! Fine, how about this?" Yasaka said as she slapped a seal tag on him and kicked him away. Mayuri stared at the tag after he landed, but didn't have time to do anything as Yasaka activated it. The tag activated and his body was engulfed in fire, the flames were so intense that Yasaka had to take cover from the heat, and Mayuri's body was slowly reduced to ash. Even as it was happening, he simply watched his own body burn until he collapsed.
Yasaka got out from behind her cover and walked over to the still burning body, "Looks like you couldn't... take the heat."
"A fantastic one-liner, but we're not done here..."
Yasaka spun toward the new voice, watching as one of the bodies on a table sat up, clothed in an identical outfit to Mayuri, with identical tattoos, the same shaved head, and the same close-eyed expression. Though it was clearly a different person with a different voice, "What in the fucking hell is this!?"
"What can I say, Uzumaki-chan? I'm immortal, just not in the way you were thinking! Now, how about we keep this going?" Mayuri asked with a superior smirk.
Yasaka said nothing, she just grit her teeth and brandished Yume.
While Yasaka was stuck in some morbid version of groundhog day, Naruto was stuck in a far less creepy situation, just a bit more dangerous. He, Yuuko, and Lee had managed to stick together after they'd been separated, and they were now taking on a group of six enemies in the town square. Naruto had removed his jacket and shirt, sealing them away in a seal on his wrist, and allowed his horns and back spikes to sprout free. He'd also grown some armored plates and claws over his hands and forearms. The three were mostly unharmed, save for a few scratches and bruises on Lee and Yuuko. The three stood back to back and in their respective stances, waiting for their enemies to make the first move.
They didn't have to wait long as their enemies shared a look, before all charging at once. They were on the defensive as they blocked the attacks coming at them, until Yuuko dropped to the ground and started spinning on her shoulders and back with her legs in a split. Naruto and Lee jumped up as fire formed on Yuuko's feet, pushing out and forcing the circle of enemies to widen considerably. Once they were forced back a bit, Naruto rushed forward, grabbing one by the arm and throwing him at another one of their foes, sending the both of them to the ground. While they were struggling, Yuuko pushed herself up into a handstand and dropped forward in an axe kick, sending a wave of flame to engulf them, scorching both them and the ground.
Meanwhile, Lee ran up to the nearest shinobi to him and threw rapid-fire punches into his gut, then an uppercut that launched him a few feet into the air, finished off by a roundhouse kick that sent him flying into a building. Another came running at him, so Lee went down into a crouch and shot a kick upward into his gut. After he brought his foot down, Naruto appeared and punched the baddie in the chest, breaking more than a few ribs and throwing him back. Turning around as another rushed him, Naruto grabbed his punch, gave his opponent one to the face, then backhanded him and tossed him to the side, out cold. The three of them turned to their last opponent, who seemed to be ready to book it. Sadly he didn't get a chance as all three turned to him and gave him a stepping side kick all at once, taking him out of the fight instantly.
After all their attackers were defeated, the three took a minute to breathe, looking around to make sure there were no more nearby. Naruto leaned down and held himself up on his knees, "Is it just me, or do the bad guys underestimate us a lot?"
Yuuko nodded, "They do, though to be fair, we look like normal Genin... Well, most of us." She said, directing the last comment at Naruto's horned and spiked form.
Lee looked over Naruto for a second, "That is a very intimidating form, Naruto-kun... I would like to spar with you when we get back to the village!" He said with his usual exuberance.
"Sure, sounds fun... But for right now, let's just focus on getting this done... I wonder where everyone else is."
As if to answer is question, Guy, Anko, and Kakashi appeared out of the mist next to them, looking more or less alright. Kakashi waved, "Nice work you three, have you run into anyone else?"
Yuuko shook her head, "No, it was just us when we were separated."
Guy put a hand to his chin, "That means that Neji, Hinata, and Tenten are still out there somewhere..."
"Present!" Tenten said as she walked into the group.
Anko raised an eyebrow, "You were alone, and you managed to take them out? Nice work."
Tenten gave an embarrassed smile, "Aw, it was nothing..."
"WHY MEEEEEEE!?" Tenten screamed as she ran through the streets of the residential district, jumping out of the way of anything thrown at her. She zigzagged through yards, houses, across or under obstacles, desperately trying to outrun her pursuers. She also countered with her own braces of kunai and shuriken, which her enemies weaved through easily enough, much to her dismay. As she ran, she pulled out a couple kunai and tossed them down, allowing herself a small smirk as she made a half ram sign.
One of the Shinobi chasing her noticed the explosive tags attached to the kunai and tried to slow himself, "Oh fuck, fuck, dammit, shi-" The resulting explosion served to disorient them for long enough for Tenten to gain a good amount of distance. She then started backtracking toward the square, through areas she'd already been to try and throw them off. It seemed to be working as she hadn't encountered any resistance, until a bunch of Shinobi dropped down beside her, forcing her against the wall of a building. One particularly annoyed, and burnt Shinobi stepped forward, "Now we've got you..."
However, instead of the fear he'd been expecting, Tenten was smirking, "Oh, do you?" She lifted a hand and gripped something invisible in the air. Things immediately went wrong for them as they found themselves bound by almost invisible wire, which was attached to the numerous weapons she'd thrown at them during the chase, "The clever spider spins her web in an unexpected place to catch unaware prey." She pulled out a few kunai and shuriken, "Welcome to my web little flies!"
"...I was just lucky I guess." Tenten said with a little smile.
After everyone had taken a minute to breathe and check themselves over, kakashi got everyone's attention, "Alright, now let's search for Neji and Hinata, then meet up with Yasaka." Everyone nodded, but before they could decide where to go, they all heard, and Naruto felt, an explosion of chakra come from the direction of the village's park. Everyone shared a look before racing toward the source.
"Neji-niisan stop it, this isn't working!" While everyone else was fighting, Hinata and Neji found themselves in a sticky situation.
"We can't just stop fighting, there has to be a trick of some sort to it..." Neji said as he watched Hikari merely shake off yet another Jyuken strike. This battle had been going on for a while, and it became apparent very early on that Hikari was somehow immune to the Jyuken, Neji's strikes did nothing to her!The two Hyuga started moving again as Hikari threw more senbon at them, forcing them apart, after he dodged them all, Neji rushed forward and started up another bout of close combat with Hikari, who dodged or blocked all of his strikes, until Neji shot his hand forward to grab her. He managed to get a fistful of her kimono, but upon pulling back, he realized that... the kimono was in his hand... only the kimono.
Neji gulped as he heard a gasp from Hinata, and braced himself for the coming battle. It would test his self control, his will, and his ability to resist- "Neji she's not naked." What? He looked up, and indeed, she wasn't naked. She was however, wearing a rather unique suit. It was a white onesie and clung to her body, with metal gauntlets and a chest piece with a blue and white yin-yang symbol. There were also black lines running down the length that seemed to glow slightly.
Hinata stared, "What is that, and why do I have a bad feeling?"
Hikari looked down at her suit, then back to her opponents, "This is the reason your Jyuken doesn't affect me. With this armor, no chakra based attacks will ever harm me." There were quite a few people interested in Mayuri's research, one just so happened to be a big fan of Chakra Armor from Yuki no Kuni, who'd been kind enough to gift them a set to help protect Mayuri's research when they'd been there. Hikari shot forward and once again fought with Neji, who continually tried to probe her armor for weaknesses, only to find none. Suddenly, Hikari held her arm in front of Neji,s chest, revealing a senbon launcher, which shot three senbon directly into Neji's chest.
"Niisan!" Hinata screamed as Hikari jabbed another into Neji's neck, making Neji fall to the ground. Hinata grit her teeth and charged at Hikari, who merely waited for her. Just before they clashed, Hinata ducked under Hikari's arm and dropped a smoke bomb. As the smoke made it impossible for Hikari to see, Hinata grabbed Neji and ran, ducking in and out of alleyways. Hikari had incredibly sight and smell, so maybe... Something to the side caught Hinata's eye and she ducked into a perfume shop, the scent of perfume still lingered in the air. Hinata took Neji into the back of the store, set his still form down and immediately ran a diagnostic jutsu, he was just unconscious, so that was good...
"It's almost like the death like state Haku-chan put Zabuza in, but the senbon is in a different spot... Still, he should come out of it if I remove the needle..." She went to remove the needle in his neck, before the sound of something flying through the air made her jump back. Hikari strolled into the back room of the store, but didn't have a chance to say anything as Hinata grabbed Neji and ran out the back door, dropping another smoke bomb. Hikari merely sighed as she followed out the door and took to the rooftops. Hinata kept trying to get away, but Hikari always cut her off, then when they reached a park, Hinata set Neji down and turned around, settling into her Jyuken stance.
"Ready to stop running?" Hikari asked as she dropped down in front of Hinata, "You know, you might actually be able to get away if you left him... Tell you what, how about we make a deal?"
Hinata's eyes narrowed, "What kind of deal?"
"Having a Hyuga would be invaluable to our research, so if you simply let me take him to my master, then I'll let you live and call off the rest of my group." She was lying of course, but Hinata didn't need to know that.
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for that? Even if I was, there's no way I'd let you touch a single hair on any of my family or friend's heads!"
Hikari actually cracked a tiny smile, "You say that as if you have a choice. I actually think I'd rather just kill you both, so let's just get this done." She ran to Hinata and they started their own battle. Hinata was on the defensive for most of the fight, trying to find a way to counteract Hikari's chakra armor. As they fought, Hinata's Jyuken strikes proved just as ineffective as Neji's, but she did notice one thing. As Hikari tried for another strike, Hinata ducked under it and poked Hikari in a few spots on her arm, then smirked as Hikari jumped back, her arm now limp, "What did you do?"
"That armor is a bit thin, isn't it? It's really only cloth, with some seals or something to stop chakra based attacks, of course it had to be thinner than real armor to hide under your kimono. But can it stop someone from say... Hitting your pressure points?" Hinata asked with a smirk.
Hikari'a eye twitched, "I see... I hadn't thought of that." She didn't have much time to say anything else as Hinata kept up the attack. Instead of the Jyuken, she was using good old fashioned punches and kicks, which proved much more effective, especially with the useless arm.
After a few more minutes, it became clear to Hinata that Hikari wasn't even trying anymore, "Given up?"
"No, just thinking...I'd prefer not to use this, but I suppose I don't have a choice." Before Hinata could stop her, Hikari pressed her working hand into the chest piece, which started to glow with chakra. Hinata had no idea what it was doing, but she decided to not stick around to find out. She rushed over to Neji, grabbed him, and ran. Sadly she didn't get far as all the chakra collected in Hikari's armor was expelled. Hinata managed to get herself and Neji away from the worst of the blast, and dove behind a rock to protect them from the shockwave.
Hinata held Neji in close, trying to keep the needles from moving and doing more damage, and she took the full weight of the impact with the ground as they slid for a few feet. She groaned as she set Neji down, looking him over for more injuries. Well, at least it was over...
The sounds of slow footsteps reached her ears, and Hinata cursed, "You've got to be kidding me..." Hinata said to herself as she stood up, watching Hikari limp toward her. She was heavily injured, her armor was torn and battered, and she was clearly on her last legs. Hinata stared for a second, "We don't have to keep going, you can't beat me in that condition."
Hikari looked to Hinata with her cold eyes, "I have to. I cannot allow myself to die until my master achieves his ambitions."
"Why are you so devoted to this guy?" Hinata asked, genuinely curious.
Hikari stood there for a second before answering, "Mayuri-sama was once an amazing doctor. He he saved my life after I contracted a terminal illness. Every other doctor told me that I was living on borrowed time. I was a mercenary, so after he saved, I decided to follow him and be his bodyguard... We helped a great many people... His research into immortality started as a way to help heal people and extend the human lifespan. However, he caught the attention of a man named Orichimaru..." Hinata's eyes widened at the name, "That... bastard manipulated Mayuri-sama, forcing him to conduct horrible research to achieve immortality for years until he finally went insane!" Hikari was finally showing some emotion, anger and sadness, "I stayed hoping I could help him go back to normal but that... That thing down in the lab, it's not Mayuri-sama anymore... I don't know what it is."
Hinata nodded slowly, "I guess I understand a bit... Wanting to help someone in the hope that they'll go back to their old self I mean..." She turned to look at Neji.
Hikari dropped to her knees, and Hinata ran over, "Hold on, you still have some questions to answer!" She placed a hand around Hikari's back and ran a diagnostic jutsu, "Dammit, severe chakra exhaustion..."
The black haired woman fell back into Hinata's arm, her breathing shallow, "I swore I wouldn't die until Mayuri-sama's goals became reality, but I can't do it any longer... I killed my heart long ago to walk down this dark path with him, but my body has finally given up on me... If I'm going to die here, then promise me something, promise me you'll end him." Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, "Promise me you'll put him out of his misery... The Mayuri-sama I knew wouldn't want to exist like that..."
Hinata stared down at her for a minute, before sighing and nodding, "I promise. We'll bring an end to it."
A small smile blossomed on Hikari's face as she closed her eyes and breathed her last.
Hinata lay her down on the ground before making her way to Neji and preparing to remove the needles, "I know you hate me, Niisan, but I won't stop loving you... We're family after all." With that, she set about to finally removing the senbon from his body. A few minutes later, Neji slowly stirred, opening his eyes and looking around. When they finally landed on Hikari, he looked up at Hinata, "What happened?"
"She overloaded that armor of hers and tried to take us out with the explosion. She died of chakra exhaustion, and I also think... she just lost the will to keep going... Speaking of exhaustion, you might have trouble walking for the next few hours, that senbon was pressing on a nerve cluster for a while..." She noticed Neji staring at her, "What?"
"...Nothing, we should regroup with the others."
Kakashi's voice came through the mist, "An excellent idea. You two alright?" He asked as he and the rest of the group came into view, "We heard the explosion and figured this was where you were."
Naruto walked over and leaned down, "You two look like you've had a rough time..."
Hinata nodded, "You have no idea... Someone help me get Neji-nii up so we can meet with Yasaka."
"I'll gladly be of assistance!" Naruto said as he and Hinata slung Neji's arms over their shoulders and lifted him up. As they started walking, Naruto looked over to Neji with a small smirk, "So Neji... How exactly did you wind up needing Hinata-chan to save your ass?"
Kaguya, I swear to Kami..."
Yasaka huffed as she tossed yet another scroll onto the ever growing pile in the center of the lab. She'd been searching for the complete seal array for a while but just couldn't seem to find it.
"You may as well give up, I didn't record the seal anywhere. It's all in my head!" Then there was that asshole...
Yasaka turned to where Mayuri was bound by a clone with her chains, he was in yet another body... They'd gotten to the fourth when she decided to just bind him and the rest of the bodies with clones while she searched the lab for the rest of the seal. This body, in addition to the closed eyes and tattoos, had tanned skin with a large physique, "Well then I suppose I'll just keep killing you until you run out of bodies."
He shook his head at her, "Wouldn't stop me. I'd still be alive, and with Hikari-chan by my side I'd have a new body in a few days!"
Yasaka growled and grit her teeth, "Fine then! Maybe I'll just load this place up with explosive tags and blow the whole lab to hell!"
"Oh come on now, there's no need to go ballistic on me, Uzumaki-chan."
"So there is something here!" Yasaka said triumphantly as she spun around, "You've been completely uncaring of everything I've done, but when I threaten to destroy your lab, then you start to care..."
To his credit, Mayuri didn't flinch, "I have a lot of work here in this lab, and I'd rather not have to start all over is all. But if you really need to destroy it all to satisfy your curiosity then go ahead."
Yasaka narrowed her eyes, "Alright then..." He raised an eyebrow as she unsealed a scroll from her wrist. She unsealed it's contents, which turned out to be several large metal barrels and a few... gas canisters? "I keep these around just in case something needs set on fucking fire!" She created a few more clones who started pouring the gasoline all over the room. As the scent started filling the air, Yasaka looked over their progress. Then, something small caught her eye, "Wait!" The clones stopped pouring as Yasaka moved toward the center of the room, leaning down toward the ground. A trail of gasoline flowed downhill, until it seemed to disappear once it reached a certain point on the ground...
Yasaka gave a feral smirk as she pulled out a blank sealing tag, then quickly created a Genjutsu dispelling seal. She slapped it onto the ground and made a handsign while channeling chakra into the seal, "Kai!" A rush of air flowed from the seal as another trapdoor was revealed, "Clever dick!" Yasaka said as she used some chains to rip the trapdoor out of the ground. Inside was a black container, perfectly square and a foot tall, it was the other items however that caught Yasaka's attention. The first was a large seal taking up a large portion of the floor inside, it was very complicated, but had the Kanji for 'Mist' front and center. The other was a large scroll.
Yasaka drew Yume and sliced the Mist seal in half, nodding to herself in satisfaction before turning her attention to the scroll. She pulled it out and unrolled it, "Ha! Memorized it my ass!" She mocked as she looked over the completed seal. It was largely the same, except for a few seals that went over the eyes...
"Sonar seals, perimeter seals, and sensory seals? Why the hell would you need those, I mean, unless you were blind... That would actually make sense with the closed eyes, actually..." She told Mayuri, who simply stayed silent. She then turned her attention to the container, she picked it up and opened it at the top. Looking in, she was surprised for a second before scoffing, "So who'd you steal this from?" Once again, she received silence. Just as she was about to set the container down, she noticed something. She almost missed it, but she was glad she didn't, the container wasn't actually black. It was very dark grey, and if she looked closely enough, there were more seals drawn onto the sides and lid, "Oh, what do we have here? The other half of the array I wonder?"
Yasaka looked over the seals, but as she did, her smile started to fade. Her eyes widened as she checked and double checked the seals lining the container, "Beautiful, isn't it?" She turned to Mayuri, who's lips were twisted up into an unnerving grin.
Yasaka walked toward him, her breathing quickening, and examined the tattoos on his head. They were covering actual stitches, "Slice his head open!"
A clone looked at her with confusion and a little worry, "Boss, you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, now slice his fucking head open!" One of the clones complied, drawing Yume and cutting along the stitched, making the top of Mayuri's head fall off. Yasaka and her clones stepped back as his empty skull cavity was revealed. Yasaka looked back inside the container, at the human brain suspended in a pale blue liquid beneath a sheet of glass, with seals painted all over it and the walls of the container.
"You insane son of a bitch... It all makes sense. The receptor seals on the body were to receive signals from the brain... Those lines aren't meant to follow the chakra pathways, they're meant to follow the nervous system. The chakra flows down the lines and responds to the signals transmitted from the brain, making the puppet body move. Those seals on the eyes aren't because you're blind, it's because your eyes don't work, isn't it?" Yasaka asked.
All was silent for a bit, before Mayuri started laughing, "Now you finally see the glory of my genius! Of course it isn't perfect, my eyesight went shortly after the operation, hence the additions. There are still some massive kinks to work out, but I've done it! I've found the secret to eternal life, now I just have to perfect it!"
"Eternal? Your brain can't spend eternity like this, it's amazing it's lasted this long!"
"I'm aware of that Uzumaki-chan, which is why I must continue my work! You must also assist me!" He said, desperation in his voice.
Yasaka stepped back a bit, "W-what? Why the hell would I help you!?"
He smiled, "Because you've seen the fruits of my labor, you can't tell me it doesn't appeal to you, eternal life, an undying form! As a fellow Fuinjutsu user, you must understand the gravity of what my seals have achieved! The two of us together could perfect this process!"
"Why!? Why the hell do you even want to be immortal anyway?"
"To make him leave me be!" Mayuri's grin widened as he started to become hysterical, "All I can remember is the hunt for immortality. All I can remember is that infernal Sannin's voice telling me over and over again, 'It's just like dissecting a frog, just larger, he was a criminal anyway, what's the harm?' 'Come now Mayuri, you're in too far to stop now.' 'Help me achieve immortality and I'll make the pain end.' More and more bodies to experiment on, more and more experiments! I left with Hikari and some others, but his voice won't go away! It's torturing me, clawing into my brain, I have to find the secret to immortality to finally make the voice stop and leave me be!" He turned to Yasaka, pleading, "Please help me, it has to stop!"
Yasaka stared at him, now with nothing but pity. She slowly reached to flick Yume out of it's sheath, "Alright... I'll help you."
Mayuri's smile lost it's psychotic edge and he took a deep breath, "Excellent! Now the first thing we need to do is-" Mayuri's head slumped, and Yasaka's clones let the bodies go. One cut was all it took. One simple swing of her sword and the container was sliced in half, the brain along with it. She turned to her clones and nodded, heading out of the lab and toward the exit back up to the surface, her clones continuing to spread the gasoline. She also had a few of them place explosive tags on the walls of the lab and hallways. Yasaka stared at the scroll in her hand as she walked up the steps, "I expected to feel satisfied after finally ending this, but I just feel really bad for the guy..."
Yasaka arrived at the surface to find the sun shining down on her. She sighed to herself as she closed her eyes and soaked up the sunshine, "Oh sun, I've missed you old friend..." She stood there for a few minutes before the sounds of footsteps reached her ears. She gave everyone a smile as they walked over, with Neji now walking on his own, "Hey guys."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"
"Yeah, just tired, I'll tell you about it later. I just want to get this mission over with and go home." Nobody had any complaints, but before they could make it too far, Yasaka stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot." She dispelled her clones and held up the scroll, "Hey Yuuko, light this on fire for me, would you?"
"Okay." Yuuko walked over and snapped her fingers, making a small flame appear in her hand.
Yasaka unrolled a bit of the scroll and allowed Yuuko to get it burning. Then, once it was burning, Yasaka turned and tossed it into the trapdoor. She then held up a half-ram sign, "Katsu!" The ground rumbled and a massive gout of flame shot from the trapdoor, setting the orphanage on fire. Everyone but Yasaka jumped back as the building went up. Yasaka gained a satisfied smile and turned to walk toward the village entrance, "Okay, now we can go home."
Anko walked over and stopped her with a hand on her head, "Hate to break it to you blondie, but we can't leave just yet... We gotta take care of the bodies, send word the the villagers in Degarashi port, and make sure this fire doesn't spread and burn down the whole village."
"Aw..."
- A few days later, border of Tea country -
The group had been on the road back to Konoha for a few days and decided to take a well earned break at a small village they'd passed through on the way. It was well known to the locals for it's amazing hot springs, which naturally caught everyone's attention. It'd been a pretty depressing day after they'd finished in Tani Village, cleaning up the bodies proved easier than they'd thought, what with Yasaka unintentionally making a rather nice funeral pyre out of the orphanage. Hinata had said a small prayer over the flames, none of them were very religious, but they felt it would give Hikari and Mayuri some sense of peace in the next world.
Anko stretched her arms above her head as they all walked toward the hot springs inn, the sun starting to set against the horizon, "Ah, nothing better than relaxing in some hot springs after a difficult mission!"
Yuuko nodded, "Definitely, and the steam does wonderful things for my skin."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Well, I don't know about my skin, but there's nothing better for my training aches than the nice, hot water."
Kakashi chuckled, "Well, you two can top dreaming, because we're here. Just remember to make the most of it, we need to get back to the village, so we can only stay one night here."
The inn residing in the center of town was one of the largest buildings in the whole village, understandable considering it was the main attraction. They headed inside and greeted the receptionist, who looked surprised to see so many Shinobi wander inside. Kakashi gave her his signature eye-smile, "Hello, we'd like two five-person rooms for the night, please."
"Of course sir! Would you also like to include a pass to the hot springs, or just the rooms?"
"We'll take the passes as well."
She nodded, "Very well, the total for your stay will be 3,000 Ryo for just the night." Everyone brought out their shares and handed them over to the receptionist, who then reached behind her desk, taking out a pair of keys for their rooms and counting out ten spring passes, "There you are, your rooms are 16 and 17, just up the stairs and down the hall to the right. These are your passes, you'll need to have them with you when you head to the springs, which are just through those doors." She said, indicating the doorway to her left.
They all thanked her and headed up the stairs and found their rooms. As it turned out, the whole place was very traditional, which they should have expected from a hot springs inn. Sliding doors, tatami flooring, futons, though the doors did have electronic keycard locks and were soundproof, which was a nice addition. The men had one room while the women had another, and they all set about to getting their things set down and organized. By the time they finished and headed down to the springs, it was fairly late, so they had it all to themselves.
Yasaka headed down first, wearing a simple yukata so she wouldn't have to deal with all her Shinobi wear when changing. As she headed down, she passed another couple and what looked like their son wearing yukata like her. They shared a nod as they passed, but it seemed like they were too absorbed in their conversation that they didn't pay too much attention to her. After they'd passed her and went up the stairs, Yasaka looked back at them, the strangest feeling coming over her. She felt like she should know them, but... She entered the reception for the hot springs still looking behind her, and accidentally bumped into another girl in a yukata. She had red hair in a high ponytail that reached her shoulders, with her bangs hanging over her forehead and on either side of her face, framing it. She also had some pretty blue eyes.
Yasaka blinked a bit, "Oh, sorry about that, are you alright?"
The girl smiled and waved it off, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you, are you heading to the springs?"
"Yeah, I've been looking forward to them since I got here."
"Well I think you'll like them, they're amazing! So, are you here by yourself?" She asked, looking around for anyone else.
"No, I was just the first one down, you?"
"I'm here with my parents and brother, they went back to our room just before me." The two simply stood there for a while, staring at eachother.
Yasaka tilted her head, "This may seem strange, but have we met somewhere?"
"I was actually about to ask you the same thing." She said with confusion.
Suddenly, another woman's voice came from the direction of the hotel, "Nozomi-chan, are you coming? Your father and I need to talk to you and your brother!"
The girl, who Yasaka guessed was named Nozomi, jumped, "Oh, sorry! I need to go, it was nice to meet you, hope you enjoy the springs!" She said as she hurried off.
"See you." Yasaka said after her. She then turned and talked to the receptionist before heading into the women's springs. She headed inside after changing into a towel, then settled into the water before removing it.
After relaxing for a minute, the rest of the girls came in and settled in with her. They all relaxed for a bit, enjoying the silence before Anko spoke up, "So... Who wants some Sake?" She asked, bringing up a jug of Sake and some saucers.
Hinata bristled, "Absolutely not! Not again!" Her eye twitched violently as Yasaka swam over, "Yasaka-chan..."
Yasaka rolled her eyes, "Oh calm down, I'm only gonna have one this time, I promise." She got a saucer from Anko and took a sip, sighing in contentment.
Anko grinned at her as she downed her own drink, "That's my girl, learn to live a little, Hinata!" She turned to Tenten and Yuuko, "Want some Panda girl? How about you Chili-pepper?"
Tenten nervously shook her head, "No thanks, drinking isn't my thing..."
Yuuko slid lower into the water, "No thank you, I just want to soak..." She closed her eyes in contentment and sunk until just her nose and higher were above the water.
Anko pouted for a minute, "You guys are no fun. Here I wanted to see you all get into some drunken shenanigans, guess I'll have to wait until another time..." She gained a sly grin and turned back to Hinata, "So Hinata, your boobs are looking fantastic, what's your secret?"
While Hinata was on the receiving end of Anko's teasing, Naruto and the other guys were having their own relaxation time in the Men's hot spring, "Ah yeah, that hits the spot..."
Guy nodded, "Indeed, these springs are perfect, they make all the aches and pains just melt away."
Lee pounded his fist into his hand, "I have an idea! Perhaps while we relax we could engage in a game!"
Everyone raised an eyebrow as Neji shook his head, "I'd rather just relax if you don't mind. The hot springs aren't exactly where I'd like to play games."
This did little to deter Lee, "Come on, Neji! It'll be fun, and I have an idea for the perfect game!" He pointed at the tall wooden wall behind him, "We shall race to the top of this wall!" Before even waiting for someone to agree with him, Lee was already about to start running.
Kakashi, still wearing his mask, scoffed, "That's the dividing wall between this side and the women's side. If you wanna climb it then be my guest, just don't expect us to come to your rescue."
That caused Lee's eyes ti widen, and he crashed into the wall before settling back into the water, "Perhaps a game isn't the best idea..."
Naruto chuckled to himself, before a small part of the wall next to him fell off, it looked like a wooden disk... He picked it up as everyone looked over, "'Replace after you're done', What the hell is this?" He asked as he read the words written on the rim. He turned to put it back, and promptly realized what it was for. He had a clear view into the women's side of the spring, and the view was good. He blinked as he realized Yuuko was staring directly at him. She seemed to be the only one to notice however as she reached a hand out of the water and waved at him. Naruto waved back in a daze before replacing the disk.
Lee swam over to him, "What was that, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto's head snapped toward him, "It wasn't anything, don't worry about it!" Everyone gave him suspicious looks, but he kept his silence.
A while later, Kakashi decided to head back to the room and get some sleep. He headed into the room, unknowingly dropping his keycard just outside the door. Just as he closed it, two people walked through the hall, a man and a boy about Yasaka's age, "How much longer are we gonna be here, Tou-san?"
"Calm down Menma-kun, we're going to be here for a few more days so I can get everything ironed out before we head to Konoha. Now, I'm gonna head down to the vending machine, you want anything?"
"No, I'm fine..." He watched his father head downstairs before Kakashi's keycard caught his eye. He bent down and picked it up before knocking on his door. Once Kakashi opened it, he held up the key, "Sorry to bother you, but is this yours? It was on the floor here."
Kakashi nodded, "I was just looking for that, thanks." He took the card and shut the door just as the other man came back up the stairs. As Kakashi got started on rolling out his futon, he thought to himself, "Nice kid, looked kinda familiar though..." The red, spiky hair and blue eyes reminded him of someone... Ah well, probably nothing.
Unknown to him, the kid was thinking the same, "I have the weirdest feeling I should've known that guy..."
"Something wrong, Menma-kun?"
"...Nah, just thinking." They returned to their room and settled in for the night, the rest oft he shinobi group following soon after.
The next morning, the members of Teams 7 and 9 plus Anko set off bright and early toward Konoha. They left before any of the other guests were even close to waking up, and it was a very awkward time for Naruto. He'd spent the night dreading Yuuko, and the other girls, so when Yuuko walked up to him and pulled him away from everyone else, he was prepared for the worst. Yuuko simply stared for a second, "Don't worry, I know you didn't do it on purpose."
Naruto breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Oh thank god... I actually expected you to be at least a little mad, even if you believed me about it being an accident."
"Why would I be mad? As a matter of fact, that incident aligns quite well with one of my life goals."
"...Me accidentally peeping on you and the other girls aligns with one of your goals? What the hell kinda goals do you have?"
Yuuko gave a small smile and tapped Naruto's chest with her hand, "Ones that I'm sure you'll enjoy helping me reach." She then walked back to the rest of the group, leaving a confused Naruto.
- Konoha, Main road to the Hokage tower, a few days later -
Tenten looked around the village in appreciation, "Man, it's so good to be back in a village that's not devoid of life and covered in a creepy mist..."
Lee nodded, with a glint in his eye, "Indeed it is, and now that we are back home... Naruto-san! I challenge you to a match, witnessing your Kekkei Genkai first hand has only made my flames of youth burn brighter!" He said, pointing dramatically at Naruto.
"Come on Lee, can't we just put it off for a while? We just got back... But if it means that much to you, then we can spar tomorrow if you want." Despite his complaints, Naruto always enjoyed sparing with Lee. He just wished that the bowl-cut sporting gennin knew the meaning of restraint...
While the two were talking, Hinata turned toward her cousin to once again, find him staring at her... She didn't know what it was, but he'd been doing that off and on since she woke him up from that coma. He'd also been less antagonistic to her whole team, unless Naruto started it. She honestly had no idea what was going through his head, but hopefully it was something good Maybe she should invite him to get ice cream with her and Hanabi?
As the group arrived at the Hokage tower, the receptionist did a double take at seeing them, before calling on the intercom, "Hokage-sama, Teams 7, 9, and Mitarashi-san are back." She turned back to them, "I'd head up there now if I were you, he's been waiting for you, and he and Jiraiya-sama have been pissed about something since you left!"
The gennin gained nervous expressions as they climbed the stairs to the Hokage's office. Hinata leaned over to Naruto, "Did you prank anyone important before we left?"
"No! I didn't even pull any, I was too busy training!"
They slowly entered the office to find Hiruzen and Jiraiya waiting for them. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow as he saw their anxious faces, "Is something wrong?"
Yuuko stepped forward, "We heard from the secretary that you two were mad at us..."
Yasaka laughed nervously, "Is it because I burnt down the orphanage? Because I had a good reason!"
Both Hiruzen and Jiraiya stared at her for a second, with the Sannin breaking the silence first, "What? You burnt down an- You know what, it's not important... We aren't mad at any of you, we're just angry at something else. Before we get to that though, it might be better to hear your mission summary first."
Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, let's get that out of the way, then we'll talk." With not much else to do, the group began recounting their adventure in Tani Village. Neither Hiruzen nor Jiraiya showed much reaction, only the barest twitch of Hiruzen's hand when Orochimaru was mentioned. Jiraiya seemed interested in Mayuri's seal for a second, before that interest immediately left after he found out how it worked. Once they were done, Hiruzen sighed, "Well it looks like you all handled this mission very well despite the danger, I'm proud of all of you! I'm going to be giving you all some time off, and A-Rank pay for your work."
Everyone shared a moment of happiness at that before Jiraiya spoke up, "Now to the not so fun part... Yasaka, this is about a big change happening in your life, so if you don't want anyone else to hear it, then just say the word."
Yasaka was now even more confused, "Is it about my special chakra?" She asked, referring to Kyuubi, her question was met with confusion from Team 9, minus Guy, and head shakes from Hiruzen and Jiraiya, "Then I have no other secrets, everyone here can listen if they want."
Jiraiya nodded, "Alright, that's probably for the best, seeing as it's gonna be public knowledge soon enough."
"What? Why would my private life be public knowledge!?" Now Yasaka was worried.
Hiruzen let out a tired sigh, reaching into one of his desk drawers to bring out a letter. He held it out to her with an unreadable expression on his face. Yasaka hesitated in taking it, "I almost don't want to know what it is..."
Naruto walked over and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a side hug, "Don't worry about it Yasaka-chan, we'll be here for you no matter what!" Yasaka smiled in relief as Yuuko, Hinata, and Kakashi gave her reassuring nods.
Guy gave her a thumbs up, "We may not be on your team Yasaka, but you can count on us as well!" The gennin of Team 9 nodded, with Neji being forced to by Tenten.
Yasaka took a deep breath before taking the letter and reading it.
- One hour later -
Training ground 13 was a very nice place. A large open field, some trees scattered around, and a bubbling stream ran through it, providing nice, clean water for any shinobi training there. Sadly, training ground 13 rarely ever saw visitors. Shinobi tended to be a very superstitious bunch, and number 13 was unlucky, therefor training ground 13 was a very unlucky place. Of course, most of the supposed cases of training gone wrong never actually happened, and the ones that did were no more serious than the ones that happened at any other training ground. On this particular day however, It's lack of people turned out to be a blessing.
"RAAAAAAAAA!" Yasaka yelled in rage as the Kyuubi's chakra boiled on the surface of her skin, three large tails flowing dangerously behind her. The blonde's eyes glowed red, her pupils becoming enraged vulpine slits as her lips peeled back in a snarl, her teeth dangerously sharp. She dropped onto all fours, growling as she glared at her opponents.
Jiraiya cursed, this was not how he hoped his day would go... He knew that Yasaka would be angry, but he'd hoped it wouldn't be this angry, "Dammit, where's Yamato!?" He asked one of the ANBU operatives with him.
"We sent Neko to find him, they should be here soon."
"Alright then, we just have to keep her contained in this training ground until Yamato gets here. Don't hurt her, just keep her here!" Jiraiya had made some seals for this exact situation, but having Yamato here to bind her would make applying the tags much easier.
Kakashi landed next to him, Guy and Anko following shortly after, "With all due respect Jiraiya-sama, we should be more worried about what she could do to us." Kakashi said, watching Yasaka with his Sharingan, "She should be able to handle three tails, but her emotions are so high strung that she can't control herself, she'll kill us if we aren't careful."
Guy settled back into his Goken stance, "Don't worry Kakashi, we all know the risks." His eyes widened as everyone scattered. An uprooted tree crashed into where they were all standing. Yasaka had sprouted several chakra arms and was using them to throw anything she could reach at them.
"Dammit blondie, calm down!" Anko's heart ached as she watched Yasaka's rampage. Even from long range, she could see the tears streaming down her face, and the immense pain behind the anger. She grit her teeth as Yasaka prepared for another attack, this was gonna be a fun day...
Chapter End!
Alrighty, there we go. My first original mission is done, and I hope it turned out alright... So, don't expect the other chapters to be out this quick, I just knew what I wanted to do for this one. For those of you curious about what exactly the letter said, it'll be revealed next chapter. So without further rambling, tell me what you guys think and I'll see you next chapter!