Disclaimer: I only own the storyline... well a few parts of it. I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from that story. I only own my OC's (Original Characters). I have a message at the end.
Chapter 37 – The binding ceremony, well sort of…
Naruto had quickly said goodbye to his mother and sisters, he also asked Hanabi to watch over them for him. Yuki was very annoyed that she did not get to spend any time with Naruto and get to know him. Naruto told them that Hiashi would tell them everything. Hinata was not feeling well, as she continued to have small chakra pulses emanating from the seal and this caused her a lot of pain so she was quite ready to leave when the time came.
They left quietly and with as little fanfare as possible as only Kiba marked their passing. They made it about ten miles outside of town before Hinata could go no further from the pain.
"Naruto-kun I can't suppress it any more. It feels like my chakra coils are going to explode." Hinata said in tears as Naruto cradled her in his lap.
"Can't you do anything ero-sennin?" Naruto implored.
"Let me take a look at her seal." Jiraiya stated as Hinata nodded.
Naruto shifted her a little and lifted her shirt to reveal the dark purple seal.
"I got it!" Jiraiya pulled out a kunai and pricked Hinata's thumb. He took the blood and carefully wiped it on what appeared to be a missing part of the seal. "There that should help."
The blood suddenly turned purple as Hinata arched her back as a wave of chakra hit her. Jiraiya was thrown back as Naruto held onto her for dear life. Naruto's hands started to tingle as he noticed lavender chakra begin to seep out of Hinata. Naruto looked inward. 'I think we need to use your chakra to protect us.' Naruto thought to the fox as red chakra flowed out of him.
"I agree. First we need to deal with Hime and Hinata's merging then we can deal with the surprise." Kyuubi responded with a chuckle.
Hinata screamed in pain and for several minutes. After a few more minutes the pain seemed to subside as her screams became a whimpers. Hinata still apparently in pain reached up and grabbed Naruto's face, she kissed him full on the lips. "Thank you Naruto-kun. You and Kyuubi helped us both." Hinata said as she leaned into Naruto's neck and promptly fell asleep. The lavender chakra subsided and Naruto released his red chakra at the same time.
Naruto looked up and saw Jiraiya extracting himself out of a tree. "Good thing we were not in the village. I am thinking we will need to camp for the rest of the day and tonight." Naruto suggested. Naruto stood still holding Hinata and carried her towards Jiraiya.
"I would agree, both you and she need rest. I am sure Hime put a strain on her chakra network. My guess is her chakra control is going to be as bad as yours is and it might even a little worse than yours. I have an exercise that will help you both with chakra control and is a neat jutsu. It requires no hand signs so even you can learn it." Jiraiya said as they started to walk down the road. "We will find a good place to make camp then we will let her rest."
"Sounds good." Naruto replied cheerfully.
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"The once powerful village of Konoha, it seems to have fall upon hard times." A tall man in a black cloak with red clouds stated.
"Konoha was hit hard by this invasion but will prosper again. We must be careful in our observations. We need to keep a low profile. Understand Kisame?" The smaller figure wearing a similar cloak ordered.
"Yeah I got it. So you feel nostalgic coming back to your village?" Kisame asked.
"I have no feeling either way, because we have work to do." The smaller figure replied.
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Kikiyo and Hiashi brought Yoshiko and Yuki into Kushina's room. Yuki sat in a wheel chair with an annoyed look on her face. Kushina looked up and smiled at her guests. Mikoto was taking a nap and did not stir at the entrance of the guests.
"Kushina, the results are back from the paternity tests. 'He' is their father. I am sure they used artificial insemination but he is the father." Kikiyo stated as Kushina sighed relief at the news.
"Who is my father? Mom would never tell us other than that he was a good man." Yuki implored.
"Yes your father was a good man, but we cannot tell you as he had many enemies and you would be in danger. So without a doubt I can say that Naruto and you girls have the same father and mother." Hiashi stated. He then looked directly at Kushina. "The agreement stands. They will be told when they are sixteen."
Kushina nodded her understanding. "What agreement and who are you talking about?" Yuki asked.
"That information was not for you Yuki-chan." Hiashi stated with a smile.
"That is no fun." Yuki pouted.
"Now for the more important news." Hiashi stated as he took a deep breath and then let it out. "Kushina, the Yondaime did the sealing." Hiashi stated as gently as possible as Kushina gasped and put her hand to her mouth. She shook her head from side to side as tear flowed down her face.
"Mommy, what's wrong? What did you say to hurt mommy?" Yoshiko yelled at Hiashi.
"This is a village secret and we need you to understand that if you tell others it could hurt your brother very badly." Hiashi sternly stated. Yoshiko gulped and nodded. Yuki nodded.
"I do not know if you have been taught history or not, but nearly thirteen years ago the demon fox, the Kyuubi, attacked Konoha. Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage battled the demon fox." Hiashi started his story.
"Mommy, this is scary." Yoshiko exclaimed as she buried her head in Kushina's chest. Kushina wrapped her daughter in a hug and smiled warmly at Yoshiko.
"Well no mortal can kill a demon. But there are ways to deal with them none the less." Hiashi continued his story as Kushina began to cry. "The day the Kyuubi attacked we lost many fine shinobi and quite a few villagers. Most everyone hates the Kyuubi for what it did."
"Mommy why are you crying?" Yoshiko asked she looked into her mother's eyes. Kushina's eyes showed deep hurt and sorrow.
"Because she understands the story." Hiashi commented.
"That figures. She was alive then." Yuki stated.
"Well as I was explaining. Your mother was pregnant at the time of the attack. She gave birth to your brother that afternoon. The Fourth Hokage knew the only way to stop the demon and used that knowledge. He sealed the demon…" Hiashi continued only to be interrupted.
"What you can't kill it but you can seal it? That sounds too easy." Yuki stated.
"No it is not easy as it required two things. One the life of the Hokage and second, it required a newborn child." Hiashi said his head hung low.
Kushina burst into tears, crying out loud. "No… no… not Naruto-niisan…" Yuki commented as she shook her head and tears formed at the corners of her eyes.
Yoshiko ran from her mother's bed side and started to hit Hiashi. "You hurt mommy!"
Hiashi knelt down and wrapped Yoshiko into a hug. "I am just telling you what happened. It hurts because she is not happy with what happened. The Fourth Hokage sealed the demon into your brother."
"The Fourth was a bad man! He hurt niisan!" Yoshiko yelled into Hiashi's robes as she continued to hit him and cried her little heart out.
Hiashi smiled warmly at the devotion the young Uzumaki had to her brother so soon after meeting him.
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Kakashi stood leaning against the entrance of a dango stand. Inside two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds sat and ate dango and drank tea.
"Yo!" Kakashi raised his voice to get the attention of Kurenai and Asuma. "Don't you two look chummy"
Kurenai looked away with a slight blush. "I was just going to get some dango for Anko. She asked me too." Kurenai responded in an angry tone.
"So what are you doing out of around town so early?" Asuma asked.
"I was meeting Sasuke, but something from out of town caught my eye." Kakashi hinted as he looked into the dango stand. Kurenai and Asuma both nodded.
Sasuke ran up wearing a cast. "Hey Kakashi your early. Why are you here? I hate sweets."
The three jonin turn to greet Sasuke. They all turned back to see the men in cloaks gone. Kurenai and Asuma both nodded and shunshined away. Sasuke wore a confused look upon his face. "What was that all about?"
"I am told Hiashi Hyuuga wants to see you." Kakashi deftly diverted Sasuke's question.
"Why? I have inclination towards his daughters and I don't want to see Naruto today." Sasuke stated bluntly.
"You mean you don't want to fight Naruto?" Kakashi asked incredulously.
"No I have a broken arm. Why would I want to fight him in a weakened state?" Sasuke retorted.
"You would then be fighting on even ground. His arm was totally shattered, so the fight would be fair." Kakashi said jokingly as he knew Naruto's arm was soon to be fully healed by the Fox.
"So why does Hiashi Hyuuga want to see me?" Sasuke asked again more sternly.
"Maybe he wants to marry you off to his daughter Hanabi." Kakashi continued his game of duck and avoid the question.
"She is too young for me. I would prefer Hinata over Hanabi." Sasuke said with a smirk.
"Ah, but she is already taken and even betrothed. And it isn't up to you, so she is off the list." Kakashi continued the banter.
"Why does Hiashi want to see me?" Sasuke asked very angrily.
"I know but I can't tell you." Kakashi sung out his answer. "You will have to find that out yourself."
Sasuke annoyed turned and headed to the Hyuuga compound.
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"Ah Kurenai Yuuhi and Asuma Sarutobi, it has been a while." Itachi stated bluntly.
Kurenai and Asuma looked at each other. "If you know who we are then you must be from this village." Asuma stated.
Itachi took off his straw hat and set it on the ground. He started unbuttoning his cloak. "You are right I am from this village." Itachi responded.
"What are you doing here you bastard?" Asuma asked angrily.
"We are here to collect a friend he is wanted by our organization, Akatsuki." Itachi stated.
Kisame took off his hat and set it on the ground. "If we are doing introductions, Itachi, why should I be left out?" Kisame questioned.
"Kisame Hoshigaki, missing nin from the hidden mist village." Kurenai stated.
Kisame bows with a toothy grin. "My reputation precedes me. I am honored that you know who I am." Kisame states graciously.
"Watch yourself Kisame, they are not pushovers." Itachi warned Kisame.
Kisame swings his large sword at Kurenai and is blocked by Asuma and his trench knives. "That wasn't nice to attack a woman." Asuma said with a grin.
"Let's let the fighters figure out who is the best match." Kisame stated with a toothy grin.
Kurenai makes some hand signs and disappears. Itachi looks up as a tree wrapped around him and Kurenai appears just above him with a kunai in hand. "Such a simple genjutsu will not work on me." Itachi bluntly stated.
Kurenai appears within her own tree in the position that Itachi was in and he is now where she was. 'Counter genjutsu, this has to be the power of the sharingan. Have to break it or I am dead.' Kurenai bit her own lip. This drew blood and thus enabled her to break the genjutsu.
Itachi kicked Kurenai onto the river they were standing next to. "I am glad to see you know how to get out of your own genjutsu." Itachi praised Kurenai.
"Enough!" Kisame said just after receiving a cut to the face from Asuma from a chakra extension of his trench knives. "Water style: Water dragon jutsu." Kisame states as a water dragon forms but is quickly destroyed by a second water dragon.
"Wondered when you would get here Kakashi." Asuma stated smiling.
"Had to deliver Sasuke to the Hyuuga compound for a surprise." Kakashi stated.
"Kurenai close your eyes and don't open them there is only one way to fight the Sharingan and that is with a Sharingan." A second Kakashi stated standing by Kurenai.
"I see you used a shadow clone. Very inventive Kakashi, but it will not save you. You cannot match me in the use of the Sharingan. Mine was born to me and yours is just a pale imitation." Itachi said with a smirk.
"Why are you here? It's because of Naruto isn't it? Well you can't have him. I will lay down my life for him and I figure you only have a few more moments before this area is crawling with ANBU." Kakashi stated and revealed his own Sharingan while he closed his normal eye.
"Have you mastered all the secrets of the Sharingan Kakashi?" Itachi said.
"Kurenai get back!" Kakashi yelled as he pulled Kurenai away from Itachi just as Itachi exploded.
"I won't let you have him Itachi." Kakashi growled.
"It is not up to you Kakashi. But I will leave a parting gift. Tsukuyomi." Itachi stated as Kakashi fell to his knees a few moments later and started to sink into the river.
Gai appeared and picked up Kakashi. "Itachi you do not scare me as I know how to fight the Sharingan." Gai proclaimed.
"I see. Well be that as it may, Kisame we must go now I am tired from this little excursion and our target is not here." Itachi called back to Kisame.
"And just when I was starting to have some fun." Kisame stated happily. "Maybe next time we can play longer. Well, until next time." Kisame laughed as he disappeared.
"Should we go after him?" Asuma questioned Gai.
"No we need to get Kakashi looked at, Naruto will be okay as he is with Jiraiya." Gai replied as the jonin jumped towards the hospital.
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"Okay Hiashi I am here, what do you want? And no I don't want to wed your daughters." Sasuke stated bluntly.
"Sasuke-san, do not talk to me in that manner. I am your elder and a clan head. We are equals at least and I am of higher rank at best. I am sure your mother would not approve of how you are treating me." Hiashi scolded Sasuke.
"Whatever." Sasuke retorted.
"I am not sure you are ready for what I have for you. And I would never have a Hyuuga marry an Uchiha especially one of my daughters. Now follow me." Hiashi ordered and Sasuke complied.
Hiashi led Sasuke into the medical wing of the Hyuuga complex. They stopped in front of a door. "What is behind this door is a village secret and you will treat it as such or you will be punished severely." Hiashi warned Sasuke as he opened the door. Sasuke saw an empty be but the curtains between beds were drawn and there was someone behind the curtain in the second bed. Sasuke walked around the curtain only to fall to his knees with what he saw.
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Naruto sat by the fire with Hinata's head in his lap. "She looks like she is in pain." Naruto said sadly.
"I am not sure, I have fixed her seal so as to fix any problems with the merging of the seal. That is all I can do, I am sorry." Jiraiya quietly stated.
"She will be fine. The pain is from Hime expanding her chakra system. It is painful but she will not be permanently hurt from this. I figure they should be better tomorrow morning. Weak but better." Kyuubi consoled Naruto in his mind.
"Guess you both are right as there is nothing we can do but just wait." Naruto said to no one in particular.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a funny look. "What do you mean both of you?" Jiraiya questioned.
"You and Kyuubi, both of you are telling me to wait and see." Naruto said with a sad smile. "I just am impatient." Naruto admitted.
The next morning had Jiraiya giggling like a mad man. He was watching Hinata snuggling up to Naruto like a teddy bear. She had a smile a mile wide while she slept. Naruto didn't seem to mind the closeness of Hinata and actually appeared to be snuggling closer to her. "Hiashi is going to flip when he sees these pictures." Jiraiya said with a silly grin.
Jiraiya started to cook breakfast and thus caused Naruto and Hinata to wake up. "Ready to go find a Sannin?" Jiraiya asked as he handed both Naruto and Hinata plates of food.
Naruto and Hinata noticed that they were snuggled up together and both their faces turned bright red.
"You know you two are supposed to be married if you are going to be sleeping together." Jiraiya joked.
Hinata gasped and blushed even harder. Naruto blushed then turned really angry at Jiraiya. "We didn't do anything! We just kept each other warm…" Naruto trailed off as he shyly looked at Hinata. Naruto then got an angry look on his face. "Pervert…" Naruto said under his breath, Hinata giggled at Naruto's angrily defense of her honor.
After eating breakfast and cleaning up, the group headed out towards the next town.
As they walked along Naruto began to appear bored as his arm was still in a sling but almost fully mended.
"Hey Naruto…" Jiraiya called out to the boy.
"Yeah what is it, Pervy sage?" Naruto said angrily.
"Don't call me that!" Jiraiya said angrily and was instantly in front of Naruto. "I will have you know that I am one of the legendary Sannin and am going to teach you both while we are on our way to find Tsunade, another of the legendary Sannin."
"Jiraiya-sama, Sannin denote three so who is the other Sannin?" Hinata inquired.
"Well… Naruto sort of met him already. Orochimaru is the third known as Sannin." Jiraiya answered.
Naruto's whisker marks darkened and his killing intent flared. Hinata gently grabbed his arm as they continued. "Naruto… Calm down. It will do you no good to get angry." Hinata gently scolded Naruto.
Naruto sighed heavily. "I guess you're right Hinata-chan. So what are you going to teach us, Pervy sage?" Naruto smiled as his features returned to normal.
Jiraiya shook his head in frustration. 'I guess I am stuck with this until I get him to respect me. Just wish he would not call me the same thing his father did.' Jiraiya thought to himself. "You should respect me I was the sensei to the Fourth Hokage who was sensei to your uncle Kakashi." Jiraiya explained.
"So you would know all of the Fourth's jutsu wouldn't you?" Naruto asked excited beyond all reason.
"Yes I do know most of his jutsu. But for me to teach you, you will have to call me sensei." Jiraiya stated bluntly.
Hinata stood and bowed. "Hai, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Good girl." Jiraiya smiled and commented.
Naruto got a big foxy grin on his face and Jiraiya was not sure what he was up too. "Hai… Ero-sensei." Naruto said and started to snicker.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Jeez kid, why did you call me that?" He asked but not sure he wanted to know the answer.
"You wanted me to call you sensei, so I am. I am also referring to you as my perverted sensei as Kurenai-sensei would not be happy if I were to over look your peeping." Naruto said proud of himself.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes again knowing he would not win this argument. "Well from what I have learned from Hiashi and the others you both are supposed to link your demon chakra and something is supposed to happen. I will have you do that this evening in an open area outside of town after we check in to a hotel. But first I want to check on both of your ability to control chakra." Jiraiya said as he looked a small pond. "Cross the water."
Hinata and Naruto walked on to the water, Hinata seemed to have some problems at first as she quickly adjusted to her higher chakra reserves and was standing on the water's surface in no time. Naruto began to teach her to use the shadow-clone jutsu as she could no longer use regular clone because of her high chakra and lower control. "I see why you had problems Naruto-kun."
"Yah, well the Kyuubi screwed with my control but also helped by giving me a large chakra capacity." Naruto exclaimed.
After checking into a hotel Jiraiya took Naruto and Hinata out into the forest. "Okay kids I need you to pull out your demonic chakra and connect them." Jiraiya pointed to a clearing and two places close together that they could sit at. Jiraiya moved away as they began.
Naruto was able to surround himself first with red chakra. Hinata slowly bled lavender chakra and was finally cloaked in it like Naruto. Ears and a tail formed on each of them. The tails swayed back and forth for a few moments. The tails then wrapped around each other and appeared to merge.
(Dreamscape)
Naruto felt himself in the Kyuubi chamber standing in ankle deep water. The Kyuubi was at the bars of his cage with a worried look on his face. 'Worried? Why would he be worried?' Naruto thought to himself.
"Because kit I am worried about my mate and if she will survive the merging. Your mate may not be ready for the power that will be coursing through her. It might destroy her. Please change this landscape and you can change the seal however you want I must see Hime!" The Kyuubi nearly pleaded.
A door to the right opened for Naruto showing a field of flowers and a sleeping but pained Hinata lay near a castle. Naruto entered the door. Naruto turned and saw he was leaving his own dark castle a cage appeared near where the gates would be located in the castle. A door opened inside the cage and a large red furred fox walked inside the cage towards the white castle. The cage lengthened as it approached the castle. Naruto ran to Hinata and knelt down.
Naruto gently picked up Hinata's head and rested her head on his lap. "Please be okay Hinata-chan. I couldn't stand to be without you." Naruto whispered as Hinata moved restlessly in his gentle grasp.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whimpered out.
"I'm here Hinata-chan, I'm here." Naruto stated in an effort to comfort the girl he had come to love. Naruto looked up to see that the cage had extended to the gates of the white castle. Naruto watched as the Kyuubi howled and roared in an effort get the attention of Hime as she also howled but it was a howl of pain excruciating pain.
Hinata eyes fluttered open as pain showed deeply in her lavender eyes. "Naruto-kun?"
"I'm here Hinata-chan, I won't leave you until this is over. Kyuubi is here for Hime too. We are here for our girls." Naruto said with a sad smile which Hinata returned. Hinata reached up and touched Naruto's face only to be racked by intense pain again. She screamed as Hime howled.
"Only a little more Hime and you will be fine. Kit, soothe your mate now or we all die!" Kyuubi warned.
Naruto not knowing what to do leaned down and kissed Hinata gently on the lips in an attempt to ease her pain and distract her. Hinata's eyes shot open. She looked into worried blue seas, but did not resist as she had wanted this for a long time. She then felt a surge of exhilaration almost like a spark move between Naruto and her. Her arms moved and encircled Naruto as she deepened the kiss. Naruto felt the exhilaration move through him as he kissed Hinata, he deepened the kiss as she did, not wanting it to end. Naruto noticed as the howling lessened. 'I will do whatever I need to do to ease your pain Hinata-chan.' Naruto thought as they continued to kiss. Their breathing through their noses became harder and labored as the kiss continued.
When the kiss finally broke Hinata winced in pain but looked lovingly into Naruto's eyes. "Did you mean that? The kiss, did you mean it?" Hinata nearly begged for an answer.
Naruto nodded and kissed her again on the lips. "I mean every kiss I give you Hinata-chan." Naruto whispered as he broke the kiss to speak, only to recapture her lips before she could respond.
"Thank you, kit, for helping them both out." The Kyuubi stated from his cage near the gate.
Naruto broke the kiss long enough to respond to the fox. "Shut up you damn fox, I'm busy here easing my girlfriend's pain and I want us to enjoy it not listen to a fox complain. If you continue to yap I will send you back to your cage." Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he heard a whine and a yelp from the fox. "Now where were we?" Naruto asked with a sly grin on his face. "Oh yes…"
"Oh Naruto-kun…" Hinata said as he shifted to her side and returned to lovingly ministering to her lips.
(Outside the mindscape)
Jiraiya watched in morbid fascination as the two demon container's chakra merged at the tail, suddenly both were pulled together and slammed into each other they appeared to wrap their arms around each other as their heads lay on each other's shoulders. Then there was a blinding light as they both spun in the air while they continued to embrace each other. "Damn lucky kid." Jiraiya cursed.
The two slowly drifted to the ground and lay there encased in their respective chakras. This continued as Jiraiya could swear they both had smiles on their faces, but Hinata's appeared to also hold pain. Jiraiya created a shadow clone and sent it off to check the area for any visitors that might happen upon the three of them.
After about ten minutes the chakra cloaks dissipated. Jiraiya noted that there continued to be chakra coursing between the two at their seals and Hinata's expression was now one of happiness or bliss rather than pain. 'This is going to make a great book. Icha-icha kitsune. Sounds like a good title to me. Young lovers who were demon fox hanyou. Damn I am good at coming up with storylines.' Jiraiya began writing as his clone made another round of patrols to make sure that they were alone.
Both children sighed as Jiraiya noticed the chakra between them die down. Naruto and Hinata looked deeply into each other's eyes and smiled contently. "So what happened?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto released Hinata who frowned until Naruto stood and offered a hand in helping her stand. "How do you feel Hinata-hime?"
Hinata shakily stood and fell into Naruto's waiting arms. "A little shaky, like my insides were torn apart and then put back together."
"Figures, your chakra network was more than likely torn to shreds and then rebuilt using the demon, I mean celestial chakra." Jiraiya commented.
The group slowly made their way back to the inn and slept the night away. Jiraiya had this lingering feeling that something was going to happen and he didn't like it.
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Sorry for the delay in an update it just took time to get this chapter out and edited, thanks to Chewee Cookies again for a great edit job. I was out of it so much I misspelled Jiraiya thirty times and he caught everyone of them. Silly author. I hope you enjoyed the chapter I am working several projects right now and believe that some willl like them. I am also working on a Naruto/Kin/Hinata fic for one of my fans. It is going fairly well should have a sample to my betas soon. Well until next chapter and we get to actually see Itachi and Kisame.