Dynamic Updatto! Yeah, my grandma is feeling way better now and I just had this great deal of inspiration and so I'm updating ALL my fics this time around! Those of you guys, who read more then one of my fics, after reading this chapter, can go to the other fic they're reading to see 'what happened next'… and those who're reading only one are welcomed to check out my other fics, of course!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it and that you'll like this one at least as much. To answer the questions that appeared in your reviews last time:
Who is Kyouki: well, to put it simply, you'll know a lot more about him when this chapter ends, so the best way to find out is to read… that way I won't spoil anything.
And before I go any further, I feel a need to straighten two things:
I screwed up (I'm only human). Ziomster was right: the land in which Kumo is located is called Lighting Country, not Cloud Country. My mistake. From this chapter on that's how it will be called (and I'll fix that mistake in the previous chapter soon, when I'll have the time)
In the newest, manga chapter, two new Akatsuki members appeared! I'm actually glad, coz I'd prefer not to 'create' any of my own for this fic. Also a new Jinchuuriki made an entrance, which forced me to change the Kumo part of the fic a bit (btw, when I began writing the mission led to the Hidden Cloud I had no idea Kishimoto-sama will move there as well, seriously), so the next, few chapters may take a little bit longer… sorry bout that.
With that said, I believe the only thing left for me to do is to get on with the show:
Chapter #11: Demon Hunter
Naruto jumped back, thus avoiding his torso being cut by the katana's blade. The moment his feet touched the ground, he bended back and propping his right hand on the wet surface, he lunched a kick aimed at the incoming opponent.
Kyouki bended over as he kept running, thus making the blonde's foot go right above his head. When he got close enough to the whisker-marks, the mysterious boy attacked with his katana yet again, this time aiming to cut the Kyuubi vessel's hand.
Having no, other alternative, Naruto used his right hand to bounced of the ground. When he found himself in mid-air, he instantly picked out several kunai and turned to look at his opponent before unleashing the rain of knives at him, just to have all his weapons get deflected by Kyouki's sword.
As he landed on a nearby roof, the whisker-marks breathed heavily, yet didn't took his eyes off his opponent: "What the hell is your problem!" he yelled pissed. "I never even saw you before and judging from the look of your clothes you're not the member of the Akatsuki, so what's the deal!"
"By Akatsuki you mean those guys in red and black robe?" asked Kyouki, his face as cold as it could be. "I have a score to settle with those punks as well… they took the Yonbi away just when I was about to finish it off… a pity…"
"Yonbi?" Hinata's eyes widen at hearing that. "But wasn't that the four-tailed beast that attacked the Hidden Rain Village? Why would he fight it as well?"
"Seems like you have some serious issues…" announced Naruto still not taking his eyes off the swordsman. "What the hell are you, a Jinchuuriki hunter or something?"
"Boy, you're quick…" replied Kyouki with a smirk. "But I prefer to be called demon hunter… the way you put it, someone might even think the likes of you… are human…" and with that he face became grim as he jumped straight at the blonde with his katana ready to attack again.
Acting on instinct, Naruto picked out another kunai and bended his knees a bit. The moment the demon hunter came close enough with an intend to pierce right through his chest, the blonde hit the blade of his katana from below, thus making the sword go towards the sky, right above his head.
Before Kyouki noticed what was going on, the blonde hit his hand that was holding the katana with an opened palm in the place his elbow was, thus making the sliver-haired boy drop his weapon. The instant his sword struck into the roof, the demon hunter jumped away and landed safely on another rooftop, right next to the one Naruto was standing on.
Without wasting a second, Kyouki picked out a shuriken and threw it straight at the blonde. Seeing that his opponent intended to deflect the shinobi star with the kunai he still held in his hand, he smirked and performed a quick chain of hand seals, ended with a cry: "Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
Naruto's eyes widen as the single shuriken that was coming at him now split into tens. Having no way to block them all, he jumped to his left in hope to avoid the incoming shinobi stars. However, as it seemed he succeeded in dodging, he noticed Kyouki picking out another weapon, this time a long, metal chain ended with a large blade (A/N: I'm not good when it comes to describing weapons, I'm afraid… to all 'Bleach' fans I can say that I did imagined that blade being similar to the blade of Ichigo's sword).
The blonde's eyes widen even more as the demon hunter unleashed his chain, making it hit all the shuriken that was coming at the Kyuubi vessel, making them change directions and some managed to struck into the loud mouth's body anyway as he was unable to dodge while still in mid-air.
The leaf-nin clenched his teeth to not let out a yell of pain, yet he still collapsed to the ground as pain shoot through his leg, with had two shuriken struck in it, as he tried to land on his feet. The moment he lost his balance, Kyouki threw another handful of shinobi stars, which came straight at the blonde.
But before either of the shuriken reached him, a sudden, yellow blur appeared in their way. It was Hinata, who, by creating a chakra sphere around her, stopped all the incoming shinobi stars and in the next moment, by spinning around, she blew all of the weapons away.
"Oh, a Hyuuga…" Kyouki stated simply. "Well, I guess I should figure as much from your eyes… some like you is the last one I'd expect to appear in the Lighting Country… I suppose you're not gonna stand aside, are you?"
"Of course not…" replied the white-eyed girl with a confident voice.
The demon hunter only smirked and announced: "Oh well, it's your life…" and the moment he said so, Hinata's eyes widen as her Byakugan allowed her to notice tags wrapped around the kunai laying all around.
In an instant she jumped towards Naruto and pushed him away as the tags got activated. "A ninjutsu trap!" the Hyuuga heiress noticed as she slowly got back to her feet. The moment she raised her head, she saw the blade on Kyouki's chain coming right at her. This time however it was the Kyuubi vessel that took action.
The blonde immediately stood before Hinata and grabbed the incoming chain in the place the blade ended and mimicking the kunoichi he began spinning around. As the chain started to wrap around the whisker-marks, Kyouki felt that he's being pulled and in the next instant he flew straight at the two leaf-nins, along with his weapon.
"Hinata-chan, now!" yelled Naruto as the demon hunter got close enough. The Hyuuga heiress acted immediately and stepped forward. Before Kyouki knew it, he received a hit from an opened palm in the chest, which made him let go of the chain and send him flying few meters back.
The silver-haired boy slowly struggled back to his feet. Blood dripped from his mouth as he whipped it with his hand. "Gentle fist…" the boy said to himself. "She is a Hyuuga after all… if that attack would hit my heart I'd probably get effusion and this fight would be over… that white-eyed girl… she missed on purpose…" and with that he threw a quick glare at Hinata.
"Oh, man, that guy's standing back up!" noticed Naruto with a disappointed voice and then called after Kyouki: "Hey, don't you know when you're beaten?"
"I do…" replied the demon hunter simply. "But this case is different… I'll let you on a little secret: when it comes to Jinchuuriki, I don't care whether I die or live… all that matters, is killing the beast… and if that means losing my life in the process… well, we all have to die someday, what difference does it make?"
"Surely there'd be someone pained by your death…" announced Hinata.
"Seems as though even with those famous eyes of yours you can't see everything…" responded Kyouki emotionless as his eyes stared into space. "There is no-one on this world that cares whether I live or die… and it's all thanks to the likes of you…" and with that he looked at the blonde gennin with his face remaining without emotions.
In the next moment he reached to his hostels and in an instant tens of kunai, combined with each other by a wire. Before the leaf-nins knew it, all the knives got lunched straight at them, but what surprised them is that when Kyouki moved his hands, it seemed to affect the route on which the weapons were flying and only then did they noticed think wires still attached to the incoming blades.
The moment they realized what was going on, they found themselves surrounded by the incoming kunai. They had nowhere to dodge. "I can't use the Kaiten yet!" Hinata reminded herself with her eyes widen, but just then she noticed her crush going quick through the chain of hand seals.
"Fuuton: Kaze Teikiatsu!" he called out and in an instant a huge cyclone started circling around him and the white-eyed girl, leaving them safe in its middle. Seeing that Kyouki only smirked moved his hands again, manipulating the kunai again.
Hinata looked at her crush impressed and then, having her bloodline limit still activated, saw through the wind currents and noticed what was happening: "Naruto-kun, he's trying to wrap us in those wires!" she announced, making the blonde act immediately.
The Kyuubi vessel reached for his own kunai and threw them right into the cyclone as its speed decreased a little. The moment all his knives found themselves spinning with the wind, the loud mouth waited for the right moment and when he saw it, he instantly dropped the jutsu.
Kyouki's eyes widen as suddenly the cyclone disappeared and tens of kunai flew in all the directions, cutting the strings thanks to which he was able to control the flight at his own knives. "Those two… they're pretty good…" and the moment he thought that, he spotted something with the corner of his eyes.
Instantly he jumped into the air, thus avoiding a small tornado that came right at him from behind. But as he found himself in mid-air, he noticed the exact replica of the attack he just dodge coming at him from the same direction the first assault came.
Having no way to avoid the next tornado, Kyouki acted immediately and bite his finger, making it bleed a little. In the next moment he picked out a small scroll and wrote something on it with his blood, using his thumb. Before anyone knew what was exactly going on, a large halberd appeared in demon's hunter hand, which he used to block the incoming attack.
The silver-haired boy was send flying back, with his weapon blown into pieces, yet he himself stayed mainly unharmed. "Kiba-kun!" Hinata was relieved to see that it was her teammate and his partner that came to the rescue. "Why are you here?"
"I saw that weird cyclone appearing in the town and figured something happened…" replied the dog ninja, not taking his eyes off Kyouki, who slowly got back to his feet. "Who is that guy anyway?" he asked, turning to Naruto. "Another fan of yours?" he joked.
"You might say that…" responded the blonde. "He just don't care to take me alive… more like it's the other way around in this case…" and with that he raised his sight back at the silver-haired boy, who was now walking towards the three, young shinobi.
"Another one…" sighed the demon hunter. "How annoying…" and immediately he wrote once more on his scroll, this time making a long, metal lash with small spikes all over it appear in his hand.
In the next second the lash got unleashed straight at the dog ninja, who was forced to jump into the air in order to avoid the attack. "Fall for the same thing I did a moment ago… how pathetic…" announced Kyouki as he moved his hand, making the lash go up, straight at the defenseless Kiba.
But before the scourge reached the leaf-nin, Naruto appeared between him and the lash, stopping the attack with his hands. In the next instant another blonde jumped out of nowhere and jumping of the first whisker-marks back flew straight at the demon hunter, making the first blonde disappear in the cloud of white smoke.
Kyouki only smirked as he retreated his lash and began spinning it above his head, creating a solid shield, that'd reap Naruto the moment he'd touch it. But to the silver-boy's surprise, Hinata appeared right before him on bended legs, making the lash spin right above her head as well and aimed her opened palm into the weapon master's chest again.
"Not this time, cutie…" Kyouki thought to himself with a smirk as he bended to his left and propped his left hand on the ground. In the next moment his feet left the ground, thus making the white-eyed girl hit only air. Using that instant, the silver-haired boy spun on his hand and landed a kick in the back of the kunoichi's head, before landing on his feet. "So, the Kyuubi used two bushins to draw my attention away from the Hyuuga that charged at me… so where's the original?"
"Your ass is cooked!" he heard Naruto's voice coming from below him and before he knew it, the blonde's hands shoot from underground and grabbed his ankles: "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no Jutsu!" and in the next second silver-haired boy's head was sticking from above the ground with the rest of his body dig under it.
"To fall for the lamest trick every…" sighed the demon hunter. "How careless of me…"
"Yeah well, you can't move, so I guess this fight is over…" announced the whisker-marks as he bended over a little to be as close to Kyouki's level as he could.
"You demons really tend to be too confident…" stated the silver-haired boy with a smirk. In the next moment Hinata's eyes widen as she only manage to call out: "Naruto-kun, watch out!"
Instantly the blonde jumped back right before a huge explosion covered the area he and Kyouki was, blowing the demon hunter away. "That guy…" Naruto thought to himself with clenched teeth and widen eyes. "He activated an explosive tag to free himself from the ground, even though he knew he'll take most of the damage… he really doesn't care about his own life!" and with that he landed on the same roof where Kyouki's sword was struck in.
"What?" now the demon hunter's eyes widen. "But why…" he began, just to have his thought interrupted by the voice that came from behind him: "If you're wondering why your ninjutsu trap didn't went off, I'll tell you that I ordered my bugs to take care of those tags of yours, so that they wouldn't be a bother as we continue…" the silver-haired boy turned around and saw Shino standing right behind him, with two swarms of bugs circling around his hands.
"Insects…" Kyouki's eyes narrowed at the sight. "He's probably the member of that creepy, Konoha clan I heard so much about… this is getting really tiresome… with those three I still had a chance, but having to fight all four of them and with the damage I took from that explosive tag, my chances at defeating them all equals zero…" and with that thought he turned towards Naruto. "Seems like I have only one option left…"
And to everyone's surprise the silver-haired boy threw a kunai straight at the Kyuubi vessel, making the blonde jump back. Instantly the demon hunter performed a standard jutsu and before anyone knew it, he appeared in the place the knife struck the roof. He pulled out his katana out of the roof and pierced straight through the whisker-marks torso. "Game over… Kyuubi…" he announced with a smirk but then his eyes widen as his target disappeared in the cloud of white smoke. "Another kage bushin?"
While his view was still covered by the white smoke, the real Naruto charged at him with Rasengan ready and hit the demon hunter's torso with the blue chakra orb, sending him flying into a nearby wall, spinning widely in the process.
Kyouki tried to get back to his feet, only to find out his body didn't listen to him at all. The blonde landed right beside him and just looked into his eyes. The silver-haired boy sighed and announced with a smirk: "Well, this time you really defeated me… just finish this already…"
"No…" replied Naruto simply, making the demon hunter's eyes look surprised at him. "Right now there's no way you can fight back… you're harmless. If I were to kill you right now, I'd only prove that I am what you called me… a monster. But the truth is, above what I carry inside, I'm human, just like you. I don't know what the Jinchuuriki did to you that you hate us so much, but I'm not gonna judge you because of that… even in my own village there are tens of people who hate me thanks to that fox bastard that's sealed inside me… I only hope that this will make you think a little…" and with that he turned around and walked away.
"Well, he should get going…" announced Kiba, breaking the silence that felt between them. "It's almost time to meet with Kurenai-sensei… let's go…" and without another world the blonde followed him with Hinata close behind.
Shino however stayed behind and gave Kyouki a quick glare, before saying: "I do not know how you knew Naruto had the nine-tailed sealed inside him… but know this: even though he does carry a demon inside, he has already proven to be more human then some people I know… it's true that you can't judge people just on the outside, but sometimes even the first impression of the inside can be false… especially if it is the way you blindly see…" and with that said he followed his companions as well.
"A Jinchuuriki that has friends…" the silver-haired boy looked to the sky. "That I haven't seen before… and he is different then Yonbi… is that what you wanted me to understand, Hana-niisan?"
"Where were you?" Kurenai asked with her arms crossed as she spotted her subordinates walking towards her. "I've been waiting for five minutes already! Shinobi should allow himself to be late! Our contact is already waiting in the tavern!"
"Sorry, Kurenai-sensei…" Hinata apologized. "Naruto-kun and I were attacked by a strange boy and Kiba-kun and Shino-kun aid us in the fight…" but at this point the jounin interrupted her:
"Doesn't matter… as long as you guys are safe… well, follow me, that cloud-nin seems really impatient, so best just not keep her waiting…" and so she headed towards the nearby tavern and Kiba exchanged glances with Naruto as they got surprised by the word 'her'.
As they walked into the tavern, Kurenai sat down at the table at which a young girl their age was already sitting. The Kumo kunoichi had long, blonde hair, clipped in a ponytail, green eyes and she used dark lipstick. The girl wore a black top with short sleeves, made in a way it revealed her navel. Naruto noticed both her hands were wrapped in bandages. Her legs was covered by tight, black pants, wrapped in bandages around her ankles. The hitae-ate with the Cloud symbol could be spotted on her forehead.
The moment Kiba and the Kyuubi vessel spotted her, they began to blush slightly, making Hinata looked at first surprised at the whisker-marks and the next moment a little disappointed. The Cloud kunoichi gave the blonde an interested stare, making his face turn even more red and the white-eyed girl even more angry with her then she already was.
"That sensation just now…" the cloud-nin thought to herself. "Could it be?"
Meanwhile, not far away from the town, two figures stood in the tree tops, observing the village where the Leaf shinobi were at the moment.
"Well, ain't that a surprise…" announced the first one, wearing black robe with red clouds, whose face was covered in the shadows on the tree tops on which branch he stood. "This is most convenient… wouldn't you agree, Hidan?"
"He… is not our target…" replied the other figure, dressed in the similar way as his companion. "We didn't came here for the Kyuubi… that brat's presence here is unwanted…"
"Don't be like that…" responded the first figure. "We can get two birds with one stone and fix Sasori and Deidara's mistake… besides, with having two beasts against us, there's a higher chance I'll get killed and I know that you wouldn't mind that…"
And so this chapter ends. Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me a review once you're done. It'd really mean a lot.
Well, all the jutsus used in this chapter are either from the manga or where used in the previous chapter (I mean Naruto's wind technique… just in case you'd need it, it's description is in the 8th chapter), so I'll skip the jutsu encyclopedia this time around.
Thanks for 'tuning in'. Hope you enjoyed reading this at least as much as I writing it.
Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.