First of all, sorry it took me so long to update this one. With collage on my head (along with some, other stuff) updating will probably be a bit hard for the next, two months (I'll still try to submit at least one chapter per month). Also, I hope you'll find this chapter worth waiting for.
Thanks for all the encouraging reviews. It really means a lot to me and helps me to work harder on the next chapters! Hope you'll like this one at least as much as the previous.. To answer your questions:
What's up with Kengo: well, you'll learn few things about him in this chapter, still I've decided to keep some things for later (what's the fun in knowing everything about someone the moment you meet him?). To not spoil too much I'll just say some doubts about him from previous chapters will be cleared in this one too.
Why didn't Naruto used Kyuubi: well, to start of I must admit that I'm not a big 'Kyuubi using' fan, but then again it's not like he really needed it in that fight (after all they pretty much manage to defeat Sasori)… and Naruto did get a lot stronger, which you'll see in the chapters that are to come after the mission in Suna.
I think that covers it... sorry if I missed anything that won't be answered in this chapter.
Also I have an announcement to make! I finally got a beta so there's hope this chapter won't be so packed with grammar mistakes as most were (I'm also planning to edit few previous chapters in a while). So, if the grammar quality is good this time, the credit goes to my friend, SmkyRngr1986, who was brave enough to try and editing this one.
ANNOUNCEMENT: just wanted to inform you about something… well, for some time now I've being writing my original story that is influenced by manga… and I finally decided to place it on the web… you can find the link on my profile page… as for the details, it's a fantasy story with a lot of action and quite a lot of humor and drama… plus romance later on. If you feel like it, do try it out and leave a review if you can. Thanks in advance.
I believe that's that as an intro, so without further to do, here's the ninth chapter of "Love, Demons and Bloodlines":
Chapter #9: A Boy Named Kengo
"Well, you guys turned out to be better then I expected, yeah…" announced Deidara, still smiling even though she was caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Bind. "How did you know that Sand girl will regain consciousness so soon? With that small toxin Sasori-dono gave her, she should stay asleep for few, more hours…"
"You still haven't figured that out?" asked Chouji with a smirk.
"Meaning what?" demanded the missing-nin.
"The one who hit you… wasn't Temari…" announced Shikamaru and the moment he said so, the Sand kunoichi collapsed to the ground unconscious. "That's Ino ability…"
"Shintenshin no Jutsu…" they heard a female voice and a second later Ino came out from behind the stone wall that Chouji created in order to stop Deidara's spikes before. "It allows me to enter another person's body and control it… if you'd make her paralyze, then I wouldn't be able to do anything, however if it's just some sleeping mixture, I can easily overcome it… I just used Shintenshin on Temari-san and waited for you to get careless, you hag…"
"In case you haven't noticed, both mine and Ino's shadows were combined for some time now… " continued Shikamaru. "I used a little trick that I've just learned, called Kagami no Kage… it allows me to form my shadow into a clone similar to those made with the use of typical bushin, however, at any time, I can switch my real body with the clone, as long as our shadows are combined…"
"So you just used Henge to make the clone look like that blonde girl, yeah…" Deidara figured out the rest. "And then you were prepared to switch places in case it'd be able to land a punch on me… plus with a bushin attacking, it was safer for you guys… and further more, when a normal bushin receives a direct hit, it doesn't get dispelled so even when it got hit with my spike you kept it so I wouldn't figure out your real plan… clever, yeah…"
"Thanks…" replied the lazy chuunin. "All that's left, is to take care of your hands so you won't cause us more trouble… Ino, would you mind?"
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"Give it up, Sasori…" Chiyo said to her grandson. "You should see clearly now that you cannot defeat us… I can give you your life back… just come with us…"
"How noble…" they all heard a voice and before they knew it a boy with blonde hair, made into dreadlocks, appeared behind the missing-nin. "You're talking about that resurrection jutsu that I heard so much about? For what I know it requires the users life to work… oh well, doesn't matter, coz I'll be taking Sasori…"
"What are you doing here?" asked the red-haired Akatsuki member.
"Is that a way to treat your old partner?" replied the dreadlocks. "Besides, you should know very well what I want… but I suppose it'll take a while to get that information, so would you mind just following me and get this over with? You were never able to beat me, even less now that practically all your dolls got destroyed…"
"Hey, blondie!" Naruto cut in, pointing his finger at the new arrival. "Who are you? We were in the middle of a fight and now you show up all of a sudden, saying that you're taking our opponent? He's going with us to the Sand for punishment and interrogations!"
"Your friends already cough Deidara, she'll do for interrogations just as good…" responded the older blonde. "And the one that I need is Sasori… that clay witch won't do me anything… so you rookies can just go to that pineapple head and his weird comrades…"
"Kengo, you sure haven't changed much…" announced Sasori. "You really think that even if I were to tell you what you want, it'd give you anything? The moment I get cough, I'll lose any value to the Akatsuki and even if you will get that brat, it'll change nothing…"
"This is where you are wrong…" replied the dreadlocks with a smirk. "The brat… I know exactly where he is… but it's not about that… at least not now… what I want, is the Dragon Claw…"
"Are you insane?" for the first time Sasori seemed to lose his emotionless face and turned to his former partner. "Have you already forgotten what happened the last time? You won't be able to control it! No-one can!"
"What I'm planning to do with it is none of your concern… and you're going with me, whether you like it or not…" and with that the dreadlock's hand went right through the Akatsuki member's chest. "I need you alive, so I can't touch that idiotic seal of yours… however, there is a trick to that too…" and with that he quickly performed several hand seals with his free hand only: "A little Hijutsu I learned in the Hidden Stone… your body will be paralyzed until I won't release you… now, shall we go?" and just then he spun on his left foot, barely avoiding a kick aimed at his face and lunched a kick of his own.
The moment his foot reached the whisker-marks boy that charged at him, Naruto's body disappeared in the cloud of white smoke. "Kage Bushin, eh? For a brat to master this technique… quite impressive…"
"You're not going anywhere!" yelled the loud mouth as his eyes changed their color into red for a split second.
"What's with those eyes?" wondered Kengo. "He's a Jinchuuriki? Well, he's from the Hidden Leaf and I never did learn who had the Kyuubi sealed inside, so I guess it's possible… oh well, doesn't matter, this'll make it only a bit more difficult…" and just then he had to jump away in order to avoid a punch from Sakura, who attacked him from behind: "You won't allow me to leave just like that, will you?"
"Of course not…" replied the pink-haired kunoichi. "Judging from your headband you're a missing-nin from our village, so it's practically our duty to bring you back… surrender now and you won't get hurt…"
"I hate when things get complicated…" responded the dreadlocks. "I really didn't came here to fight any of you guys… and it's not like you could win… but I guess I don't have much choice in this matter… fine then, I'll teach you few things about the world…"
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"Why am I the one who has to carry her?" asked Shikamaru as he carried Temari in his arms and ran in front of his teammates. "This is so troublesome…"
"Yeah, right…" Ino, who was running last, sighed internally. "He could stop pretending really…" and just then she noticed something strange with Deidara, who was carried by Chouji: "Hey, what's going on with her?"
The lazy chuunin looked back and instantly noticed that the missing-nin started swelling: "Chouji, drop her now and get out of here!"
The chubby ninja immediately did as told and as they ran away, Deidara's body exploded, lifting up tons of dust. "Suicide…" Ino was surprised. "That's a little desperate… and we just lost our source of information…"
"We'll worry about that later…" said Chouji. "First let's get Shikamaru's girlfriend to safety and help out Naruto and others…"
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Naruto's eyes became more red and fangs grew longer as he looked around and saw all his companions laying on the ground exhausted: "Damn you!" he said through clenched teeth as his glare went to the dreadlocks.
"Damn me?" replied Kengo with a smirk. "I didn't want to fight, you guys are the ones who started this… don't go complaining now…" but with that he stopped as he felt chakra gathering in Naruto's right palm. "This chakra flow… could this brat…"
The whisker-marks charged right at the missing-nin and held his right hand, which carried a large ball of red chakra in front, with a yell: "Kitsune Rasengan!"
Kengo acted immediately. He stepped to his left, grabbed Naruto's hand, the one that 'carried' the Rasengan with his right hand and slammed his left palm into the young boy's chest.
Kyuubi vessel's concentration disappeared as he caught out blood and his Rasengan got dispelled. The missing-nin instant pushed him back and smashed against a nearby rock, still holding his left hand on the whisker-mark's chest.
"For a brat like you to master Rasengan…" began Kengo. "That's surprising. I thought that the toad guy and the Fourth were the only ones able to perform it… I see you're still a rookie in using it though… let me tell you something: the Rasengan's strength is dependent on how much chakra you spend on it and the level of control you hold over it. For example, someone with better chakra control then you, would be able to create a Rasengan of a similar strength you just did, even when you used Kyuubi's chakra… for example…" and with that he held his right hand back and to Naruto's surprise, a second later a huge ball of blue, spinning chakra appeared in it, creating a small tornado. In the next moment the jutsu got dispelled. "Like so…"
"How did you…" began the whisker-marks, his eyes blue again.
"It wasn't easy, since I only saw this technique once and no-one even told me how it was performed…" replied the dreadlocks. "But in the end I manage to master it… it's my special surprise for reunion with Itachi…"
"Who are you?" asked Naruto, still shocked.
"I already told you that my name's Kengo and that's pretty much all you need to know…" responded the missing-nin as he pushed the hand that was holding the younger blonde towards. The impact was so powerful, that it seemed like he broke few of the loud mouth's ribs and made him lose consciousness. "After all, you'll die here and now…" and with that he picked out his kunai, just then however he heard Hinata call out: "Naruto-kun!"
The dreadlock's eyes widen as he turned his head to look at the white-eyed girl: "What… did you call him?"
"N… Naruto-kun…" repeated the Hyuuga heiress a little scared and puzzled at the same time.
Kengo turned his eyes towards the whisker-marks again and slowly released the boy from his grip, thus making him fall motionless with his face to the sand. The missing-nin moved him to his back and looked at his face carefully. A few seconds later, a small smirk began to appear on his face: "What do you know… I never thought you'd be still alive…"
"You… know Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata a little quietly.
"You might say that…" replied Kengo. With that he slowly walked towards Sasori, who was still lying on the sand not moving: "This is an unexpected turn… I even feel like letting you guys live… at least for now…" and saying so he picked up the Akatsuki member and turned to Hinata once more: "I guess the old fart made Kakashi his sensei… however I've never heard of Konoha team that'd be formed of two girls and one boy…"
"I'm not… originally Naruto-kun's teammate…" announced the Hyuuga heiress, not sure why she even said that. "Normally Naruto-kun was teamed up with Sakura, who's laying over there, and Uchiha Sasuke…"
"You mean Itachi's younger brother?" Kengo's smile seemed to widen. "This just keeps getting better and better… well, this explains a bit… so you got transferred as a replacement since that Uchiha brat ran off to Orochimaru, right?"
"How did you… know that Sasuke-kun…" began the white-eyed girl, but she was instantly interrupted by the dreadlocks: "Tell you what, I'll give you guys a hand…" and with that he reached to his pocket, picket out a small scroll and threw it towards Hinata: "Tell that dumbass…" with that he pointed Naruto with his head. "… that if he wants to find his teammate, this scroll can prove useful… since I got Sasori, I don't really need it… I'll get Itachi either way…"
"Why… are you doing this?" asked the Hyuuga heiress, not sure what else she could say.
"For fun…" responded Kengo. "I wonder how this will develop… besides, if you guys will be able to take this whole Sasuke brat back, it might even be convenient for me…" and the moment he said so sand began circling around his legs. The missing-nin just barely managed to escape the trap and as he looked on top of a nearby rock, he spotted a certain redheaded boy with a gourd on his back. "Well, if it isn't the current Kazekage… for someone of your status wanting to fight me… I'm honored and in normal circumstances I'd love to continue this, but I really grew tired of this child's play, so if you don't mind, I'd like to take my leave now… besides, someone has to take care of these brats and the old hag… plus, Kakashi-san and his smoking companion could use medical treatment as well… otherwise, they'll surely die…"
"In a moment the number of your opponents will increase…" announced the redhead coldly. "You stand no chances…"
"Gaara-san, don't…" Hinata asked quietly. "He's right, Chiyo-baasama and Naruto-kun require help and Sakura-chan doesn't look so good either… and he's really powerful… if you'll end up fighting, those who followed you here might get killed…"
The Godaime looked at the white-eyed girl, and after a moment of hesitation, retreated his sand. Kengo only smiled, announced: "Wise decision…" and with that he was gone, along with Sasori.
"Who was he?" asked Gaara as he teleported himself near the Hyuuga heiress.
"I… I don't know exactly…" replied the girl. "But whoever he was… he was able to beat Naruto-kun when he was… in that state… he's surely strong…"
"I see…" nodded the redhead simply. "Well, we'll worry about him later… first we should take care of them…" and with that he pointed at the two leaf-nins along with Chiyo.
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Temari slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She felt her body got numb and someone placing his hand on her shoulder in order to stop her from moving. She looked in the direction that person stood to see Shikamaru giving her a bored face.
"Sakura said you might have trouble moving for a while…" he announced with a little annoyed voice. "Just carrying you here was a bother, don't be more troublesome then you already are, will ya?" and normally that would earn him a hit on the head, but even if she could move, for some reason, the fan user didn't felt like 'punishing' the lazy chuunin this time around.
"What about my brothers?" she asked, placing her head back on the pillow.
"Kankuro still suffers a bit from the wound he got during your fight with that girl from the Akatsuki…" replied the pineapple head. "But Gaara is completely fine… that should be expected either way though…" he yawned in order to hide a tiny blush appearing on his face as he covered the Sand kunoichi with the quilt.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Temari finally decided to ask, with a small smirk on her face as she noticed Shikamaru's blush anyway.
"Tsunade-sama got the message from Gaara that you require Konoha's help…" responded the lazy shinobi. "It was troublesome, but I kinda volunteered my team to participate in the mission…"
"I see…" announced the blonde with her smile widening. "Thanks then…" and with that she winked to the boy, making him blush a bit once more.
"Whatever…" replied the leaf-nin as he sat back on the chair placed near her bed and a second later Kankuro walked inside just to see the lazy chuunin sitting a little pissed and Temari close to giggling.
"What the hell happened here?" the puppeteer asked himself, positive he wouldn't hear an answer from either his sister or the pineapple head.
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Naruto clenched his teeth as pain shoot from his chest. He left out a quiet 'ugh' as he sat up on his bed and looked around. "Once more in a hospital…" he sighed internally.
"Naruto-kun, how are you feeling?" he heard Hinata's soft voice and as he looked a little to his left, he noticed the Hyuuga heiress sitting on a chair right next to his bed. "Sakura-chan said that you shouldn't be moving too much yet…"
"I'm fine…" assured the blonde with a smile. "But how are you doing? You got injured by that dreadlocks bastard too…"
"Oh, I just got few bruises, that's all…" replied the white-eyed, blushing slightly.
"And what about Sakura-chan and that old hag? Plus, how are Shikamaru and the rest of them?"
"Well…" began Hinata. "Sakura is practically fine… it was her that treated us all in the first place… Chiyo-baasama will most likely have to stay in the hospital for few days, but her life in not threatened… surprisingly, Shikamaru-kun, Chouji-kun and Ino-chan are all fine…"
"And Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-san?"
At that question the Hyuuga heiress lowered her head before replying: "That's… a little different story… Kakashi-san is badly injured and he won't recover too fast… at his current state, any shinobi activities are out of the question… Asuma-san is better, but his injuries weren't minor either…" just then the smoking jounin walked into the room and gave the two kids a weak smile.
"I see you finally awoke, Naruto…" he noticed as he walked over to the bed. "That's good… we'll be returning to Konoha the moment you'll feel better. I have to give Tsunade-sama the full report and in this case the sooner I'll do it, the better…"
"A… Asuma-san…" began Hinata quietly. "It's… it's about that other boy, right?" the smoker only nodded. "Who… who is he? He said… that he knew N-Naruto-kun… and…"
"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to say anything in this case, without Godaime-sama's permission…" interrupted the jounin. "Sorry Hinata, but Kengo's case… is a bit complicated one… but I'd need you to tell me what he told you… anything can prove useful…"
"Right now?" asked the white-eyed girl.
"No, there's no rush here…" assured Asuma, smiling gently to her and then throwing a quick glare at Naruto. "But I'd like to know before we get back to the Hidden Leaf…" the girl nodded and the smoker walked back towards the door: "I guess I'll leave you youngsters to yourselves then… I still need to talk to Temari-san anyways… oh, by the way Naruto, if you want to see Kakashi, Sakura announced that you can, but don't tire him with a long talk, he needs a lot of rest…" and with that he left the room.
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Deidara walked through the desert completely warned out. She used the rocks that she passed by to prop herself in order not to fall onto the ground. As she took another step, she felt someone tailing her and without even turning around, she asked: "Are you just gonna follow me around or are you going to help me out, Zetsu?"
The man with jaws around his head walked towards her and with an emotionless face he replied: "I wasn't send here to help you out… you failed… how disappointing… not only you didn't get Shukaku nor Kyuubi, but also Sasori was taken as a prisoner…"
"And are you aware of the fact who took him?" the other missing-nin didn't answer, so the kunoichi assumed he didn't. "It was Kengo, yeah…"
"Kengo?" Zetsu's eyes seemed to widen slightly at the mentioning of that name. "But why would he of all people…?"
"I have no idea…" admitted Deidara. "I just heard those Konoha brats mentioning his name when they were going back to the Suna… but whatever reason for showing up he could have, this entry to the game requires us to change our plans a bit, yeah…"
"Kengo appearance is definitely not something we can be happy about…" nodded the other, missing-nin. "We must report this to the leader immediately… the Kyuubi can prove difficult to get now…"
And so it ends. Hope you liked it and that you'll leave me a review with your opinion once you're done (also, if you could, it'd be helpful to know your opinion on Kengo so far).
Since my time is a bit limited, I'll get to jutsu encyclopedia right away:
Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind-Body Switch Skill) – what can I say… it's a standard jutsu, used by Ino. Basically it allows the user to take control over their target's body, however it also leaves the body of the one who performed it helpless. You all probably know how it works, so no point in describing it really.
Kagami no Kage (Shadow Mirror) – a technique used by Shikamaru. The usage isn't that different from Kagemane. The user first executes the jutsu with the use of right hand seals. After the chain of symbols in completed, the user can form his shadow into a normal bushin (Shikamaru combined it with henge to make his bushin look like Ino). The phantom isn't really much different from a typical bushin… the only difference is that at any, given time, the user can perform Kawarimi, switching himself with the bushin (without the need for hand seals).
And I believe that's it for this time. I hope I'll be able to update sooner next time, but with so much duties on my head right now, I can't promise anything.
Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.