OK here we go. Sorry for the delay, slight technical difficulties and such. Anyway, yall are going to hate me after this chapter, Im very very very sure of it. Heck, I hate me right about now. Darn.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
King Kyuubi
Chapter 5
By Mirazhe1
The big guns were broken out as soldier pills and good, new kunai, right out of the box, were handed about. The atmosphere was quietly solemn as Kakashi handed out orders.
"Take Gai.. And fifteen others," he said, gazing down at his crew from atop his metaphorical soap box. "The rest, stay with the ship."
Many ninja of the cast and crew bore down and began making their way to the gate, including Neji, Gai, Shino, Kiba, Ten Ten, Sasuke, Sakura, Chouji, and Lee, along with a few unmentionable extras that would probably die along the way.
"Your flame of determination inspires me Lee, but you must stay with the ship this time around," commanded Gai as his now put off student passed him.
"Please, Gai-sensei! Bring me with you! Half of your team hardly knows which way to throw a kunai," was Lee's protest.
"No, Lee.."
"Gai-sensei...
"Lee..."
With a furry of tears, they embraced, the sunset and waves illuminating them in the background. Many viewers scoffed and looked away, embarrassed for the pair. But with that said and done, the wayward team made their way across the bridge to the imposing forest and whatever creatures awaiting them.
They made quick ground in the forest, being ninja of the leaf and experienced tree hoppers, but the thick foliage slowed them down more than many would have liked. The trees were huge and dense, and any misplaced step would send them to their doom. All the while, tracking jutsu's and bloodlines showed them the path, too experienced to merely call out Hinata's name.
Hinata regained consciousness, rather confused at the blurry sight of trees and brush flying past at an alarming rate. A large furry blanket... No... A tail, she realized fearfully, wrapped tightly around her, the body attatched maneuvering through the forest flexibly. She winced at the spiking pain in her limp arm, being so roughly handled and battered around violently. With her free hand, she reached to touch the injured appendage gingerly. A trained Byakugan diagnosed the problem quickly, even with the jarring ride she was currently going through, and, stealing her resolve, clasped the shoulder and thrust it back into the socket.
She grunted loudly, clenching her teeth, and her jarring ride suddenly came to a stop. The large blue eyed face gazed at her curiously for a moment, black nose puffing in and out air, before the Kyuubi's tail began to thrash again, like a little boy shaking a goldfish's bag for the fish's reaction. The shaking only became more violent at Hinata's cries of dismay, and the Kyuubi began to roar loudly, almost talking in it's own language with the various yips barks and howls, both at her and over the the new ravine they stood above.
Hinata looked about desperately for help, any help at all, but all she saw below her were the scattered bones of humans and necklaces eerily similar to hers. No.. No one was going to help her...
She was going to have to help herself... She realized fearfully.
Determined, she reached for her kunai, but the holster was covered by the wide tail, lost in the forest of fur. Her necklace stabbed at her, as if scolding her for forgetting about it, and she wrenched it off. In a moment of inspiration, she plunged it into the Kyuubi's tail. Immediately it roared in pain, it's grip loosening and Hinata fell to the ground. Immediately she jumped to her feet and began running... She didn't know were, just anywhere. But the giant fox followed quickly after, snatching her up once again in one of it's long tails.
With a roar it took off down the path, taking Hinata on another jarring ride. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as the mighty fox took a giant leap from one cliff to the next. It was hopeless, she would never escape.
But no... She must not give up. If not for herself, then for the crew... for Kiba...
Said Ninja called Hinata's name desperately, fighting for a way through the dense trees. With the sound of the monsters roar, the team had speed up, hoping to catch up with it. But unfortunately all they found was an abandoned cliff side littered with bones and pointed necklaces...
One of which Hinata's dark hair was tangled in.
Kiba's nose led him straight to it, all too familiar with her scent. He gently picked up the thing, glared at it for a moment, and set it back to the ground. Shino, behind him, gazed upon the bone yard stoticly.
"They've been ripped limb from limb," he stated. This failed to comfort Kiba as he stood up, looking down the broken path the monster...No... Demon had taken. The group continued onwards quickly, Gai directing them all the way. The first hand paused for a moment though.. How odd someone would wear the hood of their coat up in this heat (even Kiba had removed his furred hood)... And how odd they wore orange leg warmers.
Gai ripped the hood off the person, reviling a startled Lee, who quickly turned a shamefully happy.
"As expected of my sensei! Just pretend you didn't see me.." Lee continued walking.
"No, Lee."
"But Gai-sensei!" Protested Lee. "You were younger than me when you started doing missions like this!"
"I, the great and beautiful Green Beast, was a Chunin. You are merely a Genin, my wayward student," was the solemn reply.
"But... I have to help Hinata... And protect my precious Sakura!" Gai paused, contemplating, before he sighed.
"Show me your burning passion my student."
The group continued on through the forest, more slowly this time as the new day brought more heat. Bugs, huge and loud, emerged from their nests and flew about everyone... Except Shino, all grudgingly admited. Both Ten Ten and Sasuke took it upon themselves to pitch kunai at shuriken at the annoyances (though Ten Ten had better success), along with Chouji smacking the poor things with his bag of potato chips and camera, before Gai told them to conserve their energy.
Spoil sport...
They finally breached through the trees, to a large stone pathway, no doubt part of an old civilization. The team stumbled tiredly at the rush of fresh air and sat to rest.
"Come on! Dont stop, we gotta get moving!" Kiba protested, before finally giving in and resting himself. Sasuke however, being the elite Uchiha he was, silently padded off to explore. Chouji and Neji looked on, before following their 'Producer', most likely expecting him to find a proper scene.
How wrong they were.
Meanwhile, keen tracker's eyes drew Kiba to the huge footprint in the pathway, indented deeply in the mud. It was huge, yet vaguely familiar... most definitely from the canine family... It just took him a moment to remember where.
Fox...
Not far away, Sasuke was inwardly laughing. Incredible! They weren't demons... but dinosaurs! Before him, in a picturesque scene, was an entire colony of long necked lizards, primitive and huge. While he may not get a lot of power or service out of them, they would make good punching bags... Behind him, Chouji and Neji looked on shiftily.
"The fates don't look kindly upon this," Neji commented uneasily. He really had no idea why he was here. To save Hinata? Ha! He tried to kill Hinata when he was younger. It came with sever punishment though, which he served without complaint.. the only reason he and Hinata could even be in the same film together.
He slowly withdrew a kunai and a shuriken... If only he could capture one.. His Sharingan flared to life, chakra surging to it.
Suddenly, the entire colony jerked and looked about, shifting about uneasily. The dinosaurs jumped to life, and paced forward, quickly accelerating to a run. Chouji's eyes widened and he quickly made his leave, followed soon after by Neji and Sasuke.
Back with the group, the ground shuddered and swayed, rocks high above tumbling off their ledges and plummeting down. The ninja looked about nervously for the cause as the missing trio bolted round the bend in a furry of speed.
"Run!" Chouji called, and immediately many obeyed. Kiba paused, looking back. And watched the dinosaurs round the bend.
Well... damn.
They bellowed their calls of desperation loudly, thundering down the path, huge sides thudding violently against the path's walls. Even struggling against over hanging vines and eachother, the monsters long strides easily overtook the band, regardless of how fast they were (apart from maybe Gai or Lee, though they loathed to leave their team mates behind). Skillful ninja dodged and dove between the large trunk like feet, while less experiences were crushed under the weight or falling rocks.
To Sasuke and Kiba, at the back of the group, the reason of the stampede finally became clear as lithe raptor-like lesser demons chased after the back and over the path's overhangs and up the side of the cliff. They made strange gargling snarls at them, snapping at the heels of the large monsters before them. One jumped from the top of the cliff face, down to the neck its large prey, only to fall again as the dinosaur slammed it against the cliff wall. The demon landed before Kiba as he ran, which he promptly jumped over and tossed a kunai into it's eye.
The demons soon became smart, though, seeing easier prey before them. Albeit smaller, these little humans looked like an easy kill. Or so thought the one going after Kiba and Sasuke. A well placed Gatsuuga and Katon jutsu proved it otherwise.
The stampede rounded the bend quickly, and the path opened up on one side to reveal a cliff drop to their right. Many of the dinosaurs (and ninja) went tumbling over the edge, dragging rocks and others with them. Lee dashed forward, at the edge of this cliff, as the rocks beneath his feet fell as he ran upon them. He silently thanked Gai-sensei for all those brutal hours of training on the ship.
But then, someone, it was never known who, as they were probably crushed, got the bright idea of throwing kunai and shuriken at the front of the stampede. The frontmost dinosaurs toppled down and a huge pile up began. Large bodies thrashed against eachother, crushing any poor creature, be it ninja or demon, below them. The ninja band scrambled away from the flailing bodies and up the valley wall. The demons (or what was left of them) followed close behind as best they could, until they finally came up on the struggling Chouji lagging behind. As good a ninja he was, even as he reached for a infamous Akimichi pill, it was dropped as the demons dragged him foot first back down the valley. His screams would ring in the band's ears for a good long while.
Hinata flopped to the ground like a rag doll when the giant fox released her from his tail. Blue eyes betraying confusion, he nudged her with a huge paw, and her limp body merely rolled over. The fox seemed to frown, in his own way, backed up, and sat on the large stairway surrounding what must have been an ancient doorway. Waterfalls behind them misted the foliage, giving them water and nourishment. He was willing to be patient.
If only for a while.
Hinata remained still as death, her breathing slow and deliberately even. Pale eyes opened slowly to look over her shoulder at the red furred back of the giant nine-tailed fox warily
The shinobi band took a panting rest at the edge of a misty swamp after their ordeal. With Gai's command to Lee for a headcount, Shino dryly interrupted with a "Four are dead," as he tenderly treated Ten Ten's wounds. Sakura quietly, for once, collected herself next to Sasuke, scared and stunned out of her wits.
"It wasn't your fault what happened to Chouji, Sasuke-kun," She muttered solemnly, trying to comfort not only her boss and admirer, but herself.
"Hn," was her only answer. Sasuke didn't really care. They both looked away, to Neji as he stood tall on a rock, ruffled yet composed.
"Fate says that we won't find Hinata-sama. We should turn back."
"Asshole, coward, we'll find her! Shes not that far off."
"Im turning back," Neji looked down at Kiba. "Try to fight fate all you might; you won't find her and she won't survive. She was never fit to be a ninja, let alone an actress... or a Hyuuga." With that, the Hyuuga left, many more, including Sakura, following him.
Hinata's Byakugan flared weakly, as she kept eye on the demon behind her. She was forced to fall limp again, though, as the Kyuubi's long ears perked and his head swivled round to look down on his captive. Seeing her still unconscious, but suspicious none the less, he went back to grooming his long face and tails like a giant cat.
The Hyuuga took this moment to crawl forward slowly, away from the demon, through the damp dead leaves. Again her acting skills came to play as she faked dead when the Kyuubi looked over his shoulder once again. Rumbling low in his throat, he busied himself with cleaning. Hinata sprang to life again, crawling quicker this time across the ground. She scrambled back though as a huge spider, the size of her head, crawled over. Gasping softly as she hid behind a rock, she desperately calmed herself, thinking a plan of action.
The Kyuubi continued grooming.
Taking her chance, she dove into the little cave next to the rock and burst out the other side in a dead run.
Only to be stopped by two large black paw-hands blocking her path.
She looked up at the red and black face growling down at her, broken only by the crystal blue orbs taking in her sight. Panting, she ran forward, using ninja speed to dodge between the fox's two front legs. The Kyuubi's head followed, in an odd position with his head under arm, like a dog might chase a ball. He finally skipped back into a proper position and leapt into Hinata's path once again, flowing through the air nimbly.
She staggered to a stop, flushed lightly with exertion, backing up as the fox advanced until she finally fell over backward into the dirt. The fox started, yelping, and preformed a small hop back in surprise. He paced round her, confused, barking, and slowly beginning to growl as he became upset. As Hinata blushed in embarrassment, one could just imagine him asking, "Are you ok? Do you have a fever? Your so red!" Hinata pushed to her feet slowly, calculating. The Kyuubi leaned in growling softly as Hinata slowly tensed...
And leapt into the air, batting the huge fox's nose, and flopping back to the ground on her belly.
It really did help to be agile like a Hyuuga should.
The fox hopped back, paw-hands patting the ground with a confused look on his vulpine face. It slowly became worried once again though, as Hinata failed to move, and he moved in close, shifting little puffs of air all the while. What the heck was she doing! Is she sane? the fox probably wondered.
The Hyuuga hopped to her feet with a twist, and he staggered back, surprised, a little less gracefully this time. But his head was cocked, interested, ears perked. Nimbly, just like a Hyuuga, Hinata flew through a few stances of the Gentle Fist style, fighting an invisible enemy, before she 'tripped' and fell to the ground once again. The fox blinked, and Hinata swore she heard a yipping chuckle.
Hopping to her feet once again (she was already feeling as though this was getting redundant), she was sure this time. The Kyuubi was laughing, in his own, foxish yipping way. Long white fangs were exposed in what could only be called a smile. She continued, cartwheeling this time, before she flipped and landed in the splits, just like in her old program. The fox seemed amused, yet at the same time, pained by this.
At least she knew it was male now.
Bending back, she pulled into a backbend, only to flip up into a handstand.
The fox stumbled back into a sit, so astonished he nearly sat on all nine of his tails and laughed his merry fox laugh.
She continued, doing various tricks he found either boring or slightly to insanely amusing. Somehow (she didn't really want to know how), she ended leaning on a stick. The fox chuckled, before leaning forward and knocking the stick out from under her with one long 'finger.' She tumbled to the ground and he gave a merry laugh.
Sore from the unexpected tumble to the rather hard stones, Hinata climbed to her feet, only to be knocked back down again. The fox gave a rather large guffaw. She began getting up again, she wasn't sure why, but in mid step, she was merely pushed down again violently. The Kyuubi gave another laugh. The damn thing was enjoying his power.
Hinata groaned despairingly. Why did she bother? This.. demon would undoubtedly eat her eventually... why prolong the process? It was tiring.. and she was just so tired of it all...
She blinked, as she felt a large hand pull her up, standing, only to knock her over again.
No... She wouldn't let them push her around. If they pushed her down, she would just get up and do it again.. and again... and again if necessary.
Determined, she climbed to her feet for the last time, and as the paw came forward to push her over, she smacked away.
"NO!" She yelled, in a rare display of volume. The hand came forward. "I.. I SAID NO!" The fox paused, his merry face dropping into a frown, then a scowl. He roared loudly, right in her face, but determined, she stood her ground.
She chose not to acknowledge her shaking knees.
The Kyuubi pounded the ground, his tails lashing. Chakra whisked from them and lashed at the surrounding environment. Stones were disintegrated and the waterfalls thrashed violently. Finally calming, the Kyuubi sat firmly on the ground, oblivious to the rocks that came tumbling down on top of him from the hill above until they made contact with the back of his head.
The fox yelped sharply, clambering to his feet and dodging away. Whining for a moment in pain, he finally sat again, back to Hinata and hunched over until all she saw of his head was the tips of his ears. Nine tails twitched irritably. How odd. Demons, devilish beings of any kind, don't have emotions.
Right?
Hinata stood for a long moment, digesting what happened, and staring at the back of the fox. She had stood up to a demon of all things! How insane! But now... after it was all said and done, he didn't seem all that fearsome anymore... more just like an oversized child. No normal demon would be so fazed of being hit by a tumbling rock to be embarrassed about it.
Gathering herself up (even though it took many minutes to do so), Hinata strode forward a little causiously and sat down beside the Kyuubi. He seemed to be looking out over the treetops they were so high above and yet at the same time, doodling in the dirt irritably. Surprised, Hinata stared at the small scene scrawled in the dirt even as he added a huge fox in the picture to start destroying the scene angrily. No mindless demon or beast could create art in any shape or form. Surely he was at least... a little intelligent?
"Hinata," she said abruptly, pointing to her own chest. The fox blinked, surprised, and looked down at her. She shrunk under his gaze slightly. Even if his eyes were so pure a blue, they were slitted and demonic... yet hopeful and determined. "H-Hinata."
The fox rumbled for a few moments deep in his throat, growling or thinking, she wasn't sure. They were various odd sounds, some eerily familiar and some not.
"Hhinnnathha..."
Hinata blinked, pale eyes widening in shock as she looked up at the proud face of the giant fox. His paw-hand rose to point to his furred chest.
"Nnnarr-rruto..."
He grinned so widely his eyes squinted happily.
Hinata was utterly amazed. After only two hours, the Kyuubi... no Naruto, she corrected, was capable of speech and simple conversations, a few jutsu (albeit simple ones) and was still learning! All the while the huge fox looked mighty pleased with himself and eager to learn more, insanely determined. The creature in itself had a personality; Hinata witnessed it before hand. Yet now, able to speak and express, he was all the more determined, stubborn, and easy to anger, yet cheerful and happy go lucky.
Actually, he seemed insanely optimistic at times, hardly letting it get him down when he was stumped at some word or technique. He made many mistakes, as any learning student would, making the normally huge creature all the more human-like. It was refreshing to know this immortal, powerhouse of a creature, could indeed be hurt and make mistakes. In fact, with as many mistakes he made before he finally shined and mastered the thing, if he had been human, he would most certainly be a dead last in the academy or in any exam. Not to mention incredibly clumbsy, drunkenly tripping over rocks at bad moments; it seemed he was only lithe and graceful when it was absolutely needed (like kidnapping poor female Hyuuga).
But eventually in the end (and with as fast as he was learning, it was never very long when it did come), he would shine through and utterly pulverize any mistakes he had earlier made. And even as Naruto worked so hard and eventually gained outstanding results, he basked and glowed in the waves of acknowledgement he received from Hinata.
It only made her like him all the more.
"Jutsu!" The oddly accented word snapped the Hyuuga from her thoughts and looked to the now smaller fox, transformed into a more versitile form (oddly enough, it was unlike a henge, which was one of the first techniques she taught him; there had been no smoke, and the fox had no trouble maintaining it. But she knew she taught him no such genjutsu technique apart from henge.. It was almost as though he already knew this odd jutsu).
"B-but Naruto-kun..." She still stuttered, but not out of fear of the demon. She was quickly beginning to admire Naruto's sheer determination to learn... despite the fact all reason said he shouldn't be able to. "Don't you want to learn h-how to talk better?"
He shook his red furred head, a signal he had picked up quickly on his own. "This Naruto... Already talk better than Hinata!" Of course, he had yet to grasp the subject of pronouns. "Hinata can not finish her word!" Or plurals. Ah well, he was still learning.
Hinata blushed lightly, causing Naruto's ears to perk and cock his head in questioning. To tell the truth, she was running out of non-Hyuuga jutsu to show him. She was rather limited with her arsenal, so the more techniques he was demanding, the more difficult they were becoming.
"Is Hinata good? She is much..." He paused, looking for the word, until his glinting eyes fell upon his own red coat, "Red! Hinata is hot? Sick?" Hinata squirmed and became redder.
"No, Naruto-kun, I'm f-fine." A pause, and Naruto's absent-minded mind came back to the matter at hand.
"Jutsu!"
"Well... I s-saw Kakashi-san use this jutsu on the boat once... I c-can't do it but it was a higher form of a bunshin..."
"Tell!"
"I... I d-don't know..."
"TELL!" It came out followed by a short frustrated roar.
"N-Naruto-kun..." It came rushing back that this intelligent being, though sometimes sweat and innocent, was indeed still a demon. But Hinata was determined. "What do you say?"
The fox sighed in his own way, his once bristling fur flattening, defeated. "Please?"
"Good, now, the Kage B-bunshin..."
The small shinobi band slowly made their way down the trail until they came to a large chasm, its only suitable bridge being a rotten log. The ninja proceeded slowly, Gai at the front. The forest, usually noisy and alive with bird calls and far off roars, fell silent slowly, causing the ninja to feel uneasy. Gai lifted a, for once, silent hand to stop them, midway across the log bridge. Lee looked at him expectantly.
Across the chasm and log bridge stood a dark cave, old, worn stone steps leading into it. Chittering became louder and louder as suddenly bats breached through the darkness of the cave and scattered into the forest frightfully squealing.
"What is it?" asked Lee hesitantly, bandaged fists clenching. "Gai-sensei?" They continued cautiously to the end of the log and Gai armed himself with a shuriken.
"If anything happens," He said solemnly, "I want you to run..." Lee looked appalled.
"I'm not a coward!" Lee cried loudly. "My fire of determination and flower of youth blooms brightest! I shall prove hard work can defeat anything."
"Its not about bravery, or hard work , my youthful student," Murmured Gai. He continued on, alone, to the mouth of the cave, tensing slightly at the sharp clatter of stones from inside. He pulled out a handful more of shuriken and kunai. A low puff of air flowed from the cave, like a panting dog, and Gai looked over his shoulder.
"Fall back, my comrades!" The group wavered, undecided. "Run!"
The group complied, apart from a struggling Lee, picking their way across the rotting bridge carefully, sure footedly like cats. Gai threw an experimental kunai into the cave, clattering against the stones uselessly.
This seemed to be the wrong idea, as a roaring Naruto lept nimbly to the front of the cave. Gai chucked his weapons, but the fox's massive chakra flared and sent them clattering to the ground like it was a tangible wall. Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast was snatched up in a long furred tail, a red face examining him as Naruto snarled in distaste. Granted the fox had lived among the green forest all of his life, such a shade of pure and undying green that adored this man's jumpsuit seemed to mock his awesome domain.
The ninja stumbled back cross the log, Kiba pushing Lee all the way, as a few made a break for the other side. Using his free 'hands', Naruto lifted to sit on his hind legs expertly and created a seal.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Came the animalistic roar, leaving many stunned. Four more giant fox's appeared, one on the other side of the ravine, and the rest clasping to the chasm's walls like lizards; they lied in wait for any who dared try to escape. The real Naruto, meanwhile, examined Gai carefully with irritated blue eyes. His black nose puffed in and out air, experimenting with his scent. Slitted eyes watched carefully as Gai withdrew an explosive note and slowly wrapped it around a kunai.
"Like.. Hinata.." Naruto observed carefully. These little creatures were just like his little Hinata. Nothing at all like the savages of the island.
"RUN, MY PASSIONATE STUDENT!" Came the impossibly loud cry as he plunged the kunai into Naruto's awaiting nose. The fox threw his ears back painfully at the sound Gai's voice and the exploding kunai, and roared, both in pain for his poor bleeding nose and for his ears. The tail whipped angrily, throwing Gai across the wide chasm easily. With a sickening thump, he made contact with the wall, went limp, and plunged downward into the chasm's depths.
"NOOO!"
"Attack!" Came the simultaneous cries. Lee fell to his knees, gazing over the side of the log desperately for his teacher. The rest of the band began throwing jutsu after jutsu at the demon, only enraging it. Naruto advanced to the log, roaring along with his clones as their long tails wrapped round the rotten thing and twisted, sending it rolling. The lucky ones threw themselves at the large branches, but others, like Ten Ten clasped desperately at the bark.
"Shino!" She screamed, hanging just over the edge of the log by a thread. Shino looked over at his, yes his, Ten Ten, so near to death. He lunged forward, just as Naruto rolled the log once again. Poor Ten Ten lost her grip and went plummeting downward. Shino stood still, in mid lunge and still laying across his stomach, staring blankly down the misty ravine as though his Ten Ten would suddenly appear in his outstretched hand.
Finally, all five Narutos rolled the log right off the edge and sent it down. The log fell slowly, the band clasping to it, as it bounced off overhangs and caught in vines. Finally, at the very bottom of the cliff face, it was caught once again with a jolt, and the group was shaken off to fall into the sloshing mud below.
Welp, thats it. Ive gotten through the entire movie and typed it out and gotten a grand total of 9 chapters. Gasp! Not that many, but action packed, as you know. And corny. Very corny and romantic. Laughs.
Im also coming up with a new plot bunny thats been bothering me. So far, its a general idea, with no plot (Laughs), but its holding the tentive title "Normality". Naruto's the main character, of coarse. Think what you will of it (and make sure you tell me what you think of it, all the more ideas build a plot that so far doesn't exist, laughs).