Chapter Four: Fury
Two years later…
Naruto was standing on a bridge on the east side of Konoha, with Sasuke and Hinata standing on either side of him. None of them were doing anything in particular. Naruto was sharpening one of his kunai, although he had already done so to the point that he was only doing it to fidget with something. Sasuke was twirling a kunai of his own around in his hand. Hinata just stood there, thinking.
When Naruto looked down at his watch and saw that it was one in the afternoon, he yelled, "Come ON! Kakashi-sensei was supposed to be here to discuss our mission with us six hours ago!"
"Naruto-kun, he is p-probably very busy," said Hinata.
"Busy reading smut," Sasuke growled.
At that moment, a cloud of smoke materialized from nowhere, and Kakashi walked out of the rapidly dissipating cloud.
"You know, I heard that," he said.
"Doesn't make it any less true," said Naruto.
"Sorry I kept you waiting. I had to attend an important meeting for jounin sensei regarding an upcoming event," explained Kakashi, ignoring Naruto.
"Bullshit, you were just reading your perverted book, sensei," said Sasuke.
"Let's not waste any more time and head to the Hokage's tower," said Kakashi.
Along the way, Naruto grumbled about how Kakashi was always making lame excuses. After they arrived at the tower, they entered the lobby. The four of them walked up to the woman at the desk at the back of the room. Kakashi asked her if they could see the Hokage about getting their mission assigned.
"I'm sorry, but Hokage-sama is in a meeting at the moment," said the secretary at the front desk. "You'll have to wait a few minutes."
"Just when I thought we couldn't be forced to wait any longer," complained Naruto.
The three of them sat down on a bench and resumed the activities that they had been doing when they were waiting on the bridge for Kakashi, who sat across the lobby reading his little orange book. Sasuke kept fidgeting with his kunai, Hinata sat pensively, and Naruto sharpened his own kunai. At one point, Sasuke put his kunai away and got up to go to the bathroom. In doing so, he accidentally bumped Naruto's arm that held the kunai in such a way that Naruto cut the top of his left forearm.
"Yow!" exclaimed Naruto, from surprise rather than actual pain.
"Naruto-kun!" cried Hinata worriedly.
"Gomen nasai, nii-san!" Sasuke apologized. "I was just getting up…I didn't mean to…I have to go to the bathroom…"
Sasuke went to the men's room down the hall from the lobby.
"N-Naruto-kun, a-are you alright?" asked Hinata, loosely gripping Naruto's left shoulder.
"I'm fine," Naruto reassured her. "It's just…"
He looked down at his arm. When he did so, he saw that the wound was already starting to heal; when he first cut himself, it was a slit about one and three quarter inches wide, but it was already about an inch wide and shrinking rapidly. There that is again. Why does that always happen whenever I get hurt? Naruto thought. I know that's not normal, but it's not like it's a bad thing. I wonder why I heal so quickly, though…
"…a scratch."
Hinata looked down at Naruto's arm, and she saw that it was indeed little more than a paper cut. She was puzzled.
Sasuke came back from the bathroom holding a white rectangle of cloth in one hand.
"I brought an anti-septic wipe from the bathroom for your…" Sasuke said. Then he looked at Naruto's arm. "Wait, what happened? I don't see your cut anywhere…"
"I'm not too sure myself," answered Naruto.
After another minute or so, a few men dressed in formal clothes arrived from the hall in the direction of the Hokage's office. One of them spoke to the secretary, who nodded, and then the men left.
"Hokage-sama will assign you your mission now," said the secretary.
"Finally!" said Naruto as he jumped to his feet.
Team Seven walked down the hall to the Hokage's office. They knocked on the door before being welcomed in and entering.
"Ah, you're here about your C-rank mission," said the Sandaime.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," confirmed Kakashi.
"So what are we doing on this mission?" asked Naruto eagerly.
"Here's the scroll describing the mission outline," said the Hokage, handing a scroll to Kakashi. "Basically, there have been rumors of a rebellion in Nikaze."
He pulled a map down from behind him, showing their region. He indicated a large island in the sea to the east which had territory belonging to both Lightning Country and Fire Country. He then indicated a city right on the border and on the western coast of the island. From the size of the dot used to mark its location, Naruto figured it was a city with a large population.
"Nikaze, as you know, is a city of about 110,000 people on the border between Fire Country and Lightning Country on the island of Shikido in the East Sea. I want you four to go there on reconnaissance and file a complete report on the situation. When you return, hand me your report as soon as possible. I'll give you a few minutes to look over the specific guidelines."
The four of them took turns reading the scroll. When it came to Naruto, he looked it over. Basically, the only thing the Sandaime had forgotten to mention was that if they were attacked, "the taichou should use his or her best judgment to determine whether or not to engage in combat." Naruto smiled when he read that. That meant that there was a possibility that he was going to get to fight on this mission; on most other C-rank missions, it was made clear that they should have fled if they were attacked. He finished reading and passed the scroll to Hinata.
"Sasuke-niisan, did you see that part about being attacked?" Naruto asked.
"I know; this is our seventeenth C-rank, and the third time we got that specification. Everything else was 'flee if attacked by threats greater than F-class,' " said Sasuke.
"Or in other words, 'run from other ninja,' " translated Naruto. "I hope this time we get to do some fighting, though. All the other missions we've had have been so routine."
"Don't count on it," Sasuke said.
Hinata finished reading the scroll and handed it to Kakashi, who tucked it in his travel pack.
"Kakashi-sensei, what's with the name 'Two Winds?' " asked Naruto.
"It's a figurative thing; since it's on the border between Lightning and Fire, it is said that two winds of power blow through the city," Kakashi explained.
"That's figurative, all right," said Sasuke.
"Alright, everyone," said Kakashi, "let's set out."
A few days later…
Team Seven had reached the eastern coast of Fire Country. Since it was past sunset when they arrived, they had decided to spend the night at an inexpensive travelers' hotel on the beach.
"Second from the end of the hall on your left," said the man at the desk, handing Kakashi the key.
They walked down the hall to find a room which was quite modest but large enough to accommodate a ninja team. Much to everyone's surprise, Kakashi rolled out his futon and went right to bed when they entered their room.
"Everyone, get your rest. You don't want to be tired, should we have to fight," said Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei's not going to read his smut?" asked Naruto to no one in particular.
"Maybe he's trying to set an example," suggested Hinata.
"But he's right; we should go to sleep. It is almost eleven," said Sasuke.
The three of them rolled out their own futons and went to sleep themselves. Hinata appeared to fall asleep quickly, and Naruto and Sasuke whispered to each other for a while before they too went to sleep. After Kakashi was certain everyone wasn't going to be waking up until the morning, he quietly got up and went to the lobby, which was lit twenty-four hours a day, to read his book. If he hadn't been wearing a mask, one would have seen a smile on his face.
About an hour later, Kakashi heard Hinata get up and leave through the side door to the hotel. He remembered that Hiashi had told him that Hinata had to practice her taijutsu at unusual times. It was not only to enhance her prowess at Jyuuken, but also to train her body to function at all hours. Hiashi had also made it very clear that she was not to be disturbed. Kakashi duly noted that Hinata had gone out the beach, and kept on reading.
Meanwhile, Naruto was suddenly woken up by a churning feeling in his stomach.
"Ugh, I feel sick…" he said drowsily, getting up. "It must have been that milk I had at breakfast…"
After he got up, he stumbled through the dark to the bathroom, clutching his stomach. He entered the bathroom. Just as he closed the door and turned around, he vomited straight down, right onto his pajama pants.
"Kuso," he mumbled, too tired to yell. "I guess I'll change and go wash these at the beach.
In the lobby, Kakashi was still reading his book. He could hear Naruto, and he realized that Naruto would most likely see Hinata when he went out to clean his pants. He didn't interrupt, despite what Hiashi had told him. He thought it would be interesting to see how it played out.
Outside, Naruto was slapping himself awake as he walked from the hotel to the shore. When he got there, he waded a few yards into the water in his boxers while he scrubbed his pants with a bar of soap from the hotel in the water. He was frustrated at how stubbornly the vomit refused to come off of his pants. At one point, he got so frustrated that he balled up his pants and flung them far to his right. Grumbling at himself, he splashed through the water over to his pants.
When he got them, though, he looked ahead, and saw a figure silhouetted against the moon on the beach among a cluster of boulders. As he moved closer, he realized that the person was going through the movements of Jyuuken, the special taijutsu style exclusive to the Hyuuga clan. He moved closer still, and realized that the person was a young girl.
She's beautiful, thought Naruto.
Then he realized that the figure wasn't wearing anything, causing Naruto to look away, embarrassed.
Not wanting to be considered to have been peeping, Naruto silently walked back to beach, and then to the hotel. As he changed into a dry pair of boxers in the hotel bathroom, Naruto put two and two together:
That could only have been Hinata.
The next day…
Naruto reclined on the bench on the deck of the boat that was taking Team Seven to Nikaze. The three of them were just relaxing while Kakashi was reading his ever-present book. Naruto was sitting at the end of the bench, and as he glanced over at his two teammates, he saw Hinata quietly yawn.
I wonder how late she kept practicing, Naruto thought. Or early. Whatever.
As he thought this, Kakashi looked up from his book and told them, "You know, you guys should probably be taking this time to train. We might be engaged in combat the moment we get off this boat."
"Hai," said Sasuke as he and the others got off the bench.
"Well, I guess I'll go spar with Sasuke-niisan," Naruto told Kakashi.
"And I suppose that I'll practice my own taijutsu," said Hinata.
"Good," said Kakashi. "Just remember not to break anything. You wouldn't want to have to swim to Nikaze, nee?"
They nodded before going off to different parts of the ship. Naruto and Sasuke walked over to the wide, open area at the bow to engage in tamed-down mock combat. Hinata, meanwhile, went near the stern, where she could be alone to go through the dangerous movements of Jyuuken. As the day continued, this was all they did, except for a brief lunch break.
While they trained, Naruto couldn't help but notice how he kept glancing over at Hinata, seeing how graceful her attacks were, how fluid her movements were, how sure of herself she seemed, how beautiful she was…
Wait a minute, do I like Hinata? Naruto asked himself.
That evening…
"We finally got here, dattebayo!" yelled Naruto, stepping out of the boat onto the pier.
"Of course, our mission has only begun," said Kakashi. "We've only just arrived."
"That was a ten-hour boat trip," grumbled Sasuke. "Give him a break."
As Team Seven walked off the pier to the road, Kakashi said, "Let's find some lodging where we can stay for the night. After that, we'll find a place to eat, and start scouting."
The four of them found an affordable hotel on the south side of Nikaze, checked in, and went to a restaurant down the street. Naruto wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on; he just went along with everyone. All the while, he pondered the question he had asked himself on the boat. He searched for an answer, but he found that his thoughts on Hinata were like liquid; he could never keep them still, and they always eluded his grasp.
He was jolted back to reality when he felt like his mouth was on fire. His eyes opened wide, and he almost spit the food he was eating back out before he realized that that would be immeasurably rude. He sucked it up and slowly swallowed his food.
"You must have been really out of it to put some of that stuff on your food," remarked Sasuke.
Naruto looked at the bottle of condiments he had poured over his food. It read, "Tabasco Sauce."
Naruto got up from his seat and showed the manager the bottle, asking him, "What the Zeon is this?"
"Oh, I've been trying out some foods and condiments from other parts of the world recently to try and make my restaurant more cultural," answered the manager. "I've started serving foods like kielbasas, shish kebobs—"
"You haven't answered my question!" Naruto said angrily.
"Well, that happens to be a spicy sauce from Mexico, but if you want something really spicy, I've got this one Indian dish—"
"Uh, no thanks," said Naruto, as calmly as he could manage, returning to his seat.
When Naruto sat back down and resumed eating, Kakashi stood up and said, "Well, I'm going to go ask around to see if I can get any information, which is what I'd like you three to do when you finish eating. We'll meet back at the hotel room at 8:30."
"Translation: wait for him back at the hotel room until he walks in reading his book sometime in the middle of the night," Sasuke whispered into Naruto's ear. Naruto smiled.
Kakashi got up and left, and when the three of them looked out the window, they saw him whip out his book the second he left the restaurant.
"He's a jounin for a reason; he's a jounin for a reason…" Naruto and Sasuke each mumbled to themselves.
After a few more minutes, Sasuke finished his meal, got up, and went out on his own, saying, "There's no need to wait for you two when I can start now."
"See you later, nii-san," said Naruto.
That left Naruto and Hinata. Naruto realized the implications of this a few seconds after Sasuke left. He prepared to calm himself, but found that there was no need; there was a perfectly acceptable context for him to be eating with just Hinata. They finished their food after a few more minutes, and then Naruto realized that neither Sasuke nor Kakashi had paid. He cursed under his breath.
When they were about to leave, Hinata realized this, too. "Ano, Naruto-kun, what should we do about the bill?"
"Don't worry about it, Hinata," said Naruto, "I'll pay for everything."
Naruto-kun…is paying…does that make this…? thought Hinata as she blushed heavily. "A-a-arig-g-gatou g-gozaimasu."
"It's nothing," replied Naruto, taking out his wallet and looking at the slip of paper the waitress handed him. "Let's see, the total cost is…hey, not that bad. I can pay this, dattebayo. Say, is something wrong?"
Hinata's face reddened even more and she looked away. "N-n-n-no!"
"Whatever," said Naruto, knowing something was wrong but figuring it was pointless to pursue the topic any further.
Naruto flipped through his wallet and took out a few slips of money, which he set on the table. He and Hinata got up, and they left the restaurant. When they went out the door, they said goodbye and split up for the night.
Later that evening…
It was 8:29. Naruto was just opening the door to the hotel room, having completed his scouting. He had actually found some leads, but if things continued at the pace they had that evening, it would take at least another three days before they found the root of the rebellion. Just as he set his travel pack down on the floor, the door clicked, and in walked Sasuke.
"Find anything?" he asked.
"Some people up in the hills who know a person who could introduce me to a friend of some donors to an 'unofficial organization of improvement,' " said Naruto.
"I got the same kind of crap," replied Sasuke.
The door clicked again, and this time Hinata entered the room.
"I couldn't unearth too much," said Hinata. "This town knows how to keep its lips shut."
"Great, we're all here. Now we just spend the rest of the night waiting for—"
Naruto was interrupted by a sudden poof of smoke near the window. Kakashi appeared, reading his ubiquitous book.
"I've identified and located the leader of the resistance," said Kakashi, not looking up from his book.
Naruto and Sasuke's jaws dropped to the floor.
"Oh, come on, surely you three found—"
"YOU'RE ON TIME!?" they both yelled.
"Oh, right," said Kakashi, realizing the obvious. "I just had to tell you at once, because I've scheduled a meeting with this man, known as the Lightning Count, in a half-hour."
"Let's get going then, dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto.
Thirty minutes afterwards…
Team Seven was waiting silently in the entrance hall of the Lightning Count's administrative edifice when the clerk welcomed them into the inner office with a wave of her hand. Kakashi nodded, and the team walked through the simple double-doors.
When they entered the room, the first thing they noticed was that the only light came from a lamp on the desk in front of the window. While most of the building was sufficiently illuminated, the Lightning Count seemed to prefer to hide behind the veil of darkness.
"Would you mind turning a few lights on? We can't see whether you're there or not," said Naruto as politely as he could.
"Electricity is quite expensive in this town," the Lightning Count replied. "Didn't you notice this evening that the streets were almost completely dark?"
"Hai, it was dark," said Naruto. "But you're the county chairman for both Fire and Lightning's sides, so doesn't at least one of the governments cover your bill?"
The Lightning Count laughed. "You would think. However, each country tells me to get the other one to handle any responsibilities usually managed on the federal level, so we're effectively more self-reliant than most cities in Lightning or Fire."
"Let's not waste time, Lightning Count-sama," said Kakashi. "I'll get to the point: why are you leading this rebellion?"
"Is that what they're calling it? A rebellion?" asked the Lightning Count, laughing again. "I suppose that's more or less what it amounts to. It's really just an attempt at obtaining self-rule by means of nonviolent protesting. There is no rebel militia or anything of the sort. But there is indeed a movement towards independence—through strictly nonviolent means. I myself lead it."
"We know you do. That's why I came to you to question you on the matter," responded Kakashi.
"You're really on top of things, aren't you?" the Count asked. "I suppose you four intend to record the motives of this movement for reconnaissance purposes, correct?"
They nodded.
"Well, here's my story…
"I used to be a provincial governor for this district of Lightning Country. During my twelve years of office, I came to know all too well how Lightning's strict, hands-off capitalist economy just wasn't working for Nikaze. They have a name for something similar to it in the West, which I believe is laissez faire. In Lightning's system—and, for that matter, Fire's system, because they are nigh identical—the government is essentially crippled when it comes to directly conducting the economy. This is a problem in Nikaze. The only class that truly exists here is the lower-middle class; everyone is sufficiently paid, and the people can clothe, feed, and shelter themselves without problems, but little is left over for luxury goods and services, such as cable television. There is a small class of upper-middle class people on the north side, however, and they live lives of excess.
"However, the largest problem is not that the money is divided unevenly, but rather that foreign money brought in by traders using our famous port doesn't find its way into our system. Although our citizens enjoy acceptable living conditions, most of our businesses are unable to prosper because they cannot obtain the resources they require. Resources are expensive for an entrepot port like ourselves, and usually only the businesses run by the upper-middle class can afford them. Uneven distribution of imported resources necessary for manufacturing; that's the problem.
"Recently, I gathered a board of economists to devise an economic system that would provide a solution to this problem without being prone to corruption."
"Well that's the real trick, isn't it?" said Sasuke.
"Indeed it is. After a few months of discussion and theorizing, we have come up with the ideal government-economic policy four Nikaze: a Western-style democracy with our little invention, Societism."
"What's that?" asked Naruto.
"I was about to explain; don't interrupt. The short version is that Societism is a slightly more Socialist version of Capitalism. I suppose one can describe it as like Capitalism, but the government has a strong hand in the economy. Private and small businesses and other Capitalist figments are present, but there are also official, government-run businesses. Additionally, the government regulates wages and determines what industry a certain business will provide goods and services for."
"Wouldn't the government steal a huge chunk of the money that would go into those wages?" Naruto asked again.
"Not in Societism; the government only regulates the monetary exchange, which goes directly from the employer to the worker. Since it is in no way involved in the transfer, it can't line its pockets with money. The point of it is to decrease the financial gap between the classes. Of course, it would be unwise to give every worker identical pay—the harder the job, the slightly higher one's wages are.
"That is why we strive for independence; Fire and Lightning Countries will never allow us to perform Societism within their borders. They'd probably be more likely to allow us to gain independence. Think about it; how important is our city to our countries in the greater perspective? The only two things we are known for are our excellent harbor and being a tourist hub somehow. We don't contribute significantly to our national economies.
"That about sums up the simple version. The long version is a book that I co-wrote with another member of the intellectual circle that developed Societism, which I will refrain from advertising to you."
"And how do you intend to achieve your independence?" asked Kakashi.
"I believe I already explained this, but I suppose it can't hurt to say it again, considering you have already forgotten. We immediately ruled out violence; we have no municipal militia, and we wouldn't stand a chance against the combined forces of Konoha and Kumo, both two of the most powerful shinobi villages in the world. We are attempting to gain independence through peaceful protesting and civil disobedience."
The meeting went on for the rest of the night. Kakashi and the Lightning Count discussed matters in fluent Politics, a language that few people outside of government knew. As such, the three genin failed to comprehend a word the two were saying. What Naruto did pick up on, however, was what Kakashi was saying: I'm not here to do anything about your rebellion; I'm just here to file a report on it. You can keep lobbying for independence, and we, as in me and my team, won't interfere. We're just here to observe. You're most likely going to have to deal with other officials from Fire and Lightning who want to stop you, but that's not us.
When the two men finished, it was very late. Kakashi and the rest of Team Seven left the building and headed for the hotel to rest. They planned to leave the next morning.
However, on their way to the hotel, they were stopped by three men wearing forehead protectors with three clouds on them. Kumo-nin.
"Stop right there," said the middle one.
"I'm sorry, my team and I don't have time for idle chatter right now," remarked Kakashi. "We're trying to get back to the hotel we're staying so we can sleep."
"You misunderstand," said another, brandishing a kunai. "This isn't a choice."
"Oh dear," sighed Kakashi. "I suppose we'll have to fight, then, correct? I really don't feel like this right now."
"Stop acting so arrogant, Konoha-nin," spat the third Kumo-nin. "We're a team of chuunin from Kumo here on a mission, and you're in our way."
"Really? Chuunin? Then I definitely don't need to waste any time on you three," said Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei, look out!" yelled Naruto.
Suddenly, a shuriken flew towards the base of Kakashi's neck from behind the group. He ducked just in time to watch the shuriken fly over his head and into the chest of one of the three ninja in front of him. Upon impact, the ninja turned into a wisp of fog, and the other two followed shortly after.
Kumo Bunshin! thought Kakashi.
He turned around to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata staring up at a silhouette on top of a tall building. He leapt down in front of Team Seven. An average-height man, he had blonde hair with simultaneous long, low bangs and a tall cowlick. His eyes were an almost magical blue, almost as if they had been warped. In addition to his dark and somewhat baggy tunic, he wore a spiked, metal shoulder guard over his left clavicle; dark leather gloves with metal knuckles; brown, leather boots; and a thick belt around his waist.
But most menacing was his five-foot long sword. The blade was as wide as the guard on the hilt, and there were two circular holes, one above the other, right on top of the guard. The sword looked like it could bust anything.
"I am Strife, Kumo's most powerful jounin," he said. "Give me the Hyuuga or face my wrath."
"You're kidding, right?"
"What, did I stutter or something? Hand me the girl!"
"In your dreams," said Kakashi, still maintaining an air of apathy somehow.
"Very well," said Strife. He slung his massive blade across his back at an angle, performed a quick set of hand signs, and stretched his two arms out in front of him.
"Thundara!" he cried.
Immediately, a bolt of lightning flashed down from the sky directly above Kakashi's head and flew down to strike him.
"Kakashi-sensei!" cried Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata in unison.
But just as the lightning struck, a log appeared where Kakashi had been standing. A substitution.
Kakashi then reappeared behind Strife, pressing a kunai to his throat.
"Check," remarked Kakashi. He then looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. "You three get to the marina and catch a boat. I'll catch up to you."
Strife smiled. "Not so fast," he said. Then he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, just as the three chuunin had done.
"It looks like I'll have to use this," Kakashi sighed.
He reached up to his face and lifted his forehead protector above his left eye. In doing so, he revealed a closed eye with a visible battle scar running vertically through the middle of it. When he opened his eye, they saw that his iris was red, with three black, comma-shaped tomoe 120 degrees apart with curved, black lines concentric with the circumference of the iris separating the three tomoe.
"Sh…sharingan?" asked Sasuke. "Where…How did you…?"
"It's a long story. Perhaps I'll tell you someday," replied Kakashi. "But right now, I need you three to get to the marina."
"What about Strife?" asked Naruto.
"You worry about getting out of here; I'll worry about Strife," said Kakashi. "I'll go after him."
With that, Kakashi teleported out of the area in search of Strife.
"Hey, you chuunin come and fight us!" barked Sasuke.
"I guess we can play your little game for a while," said one of the chuunin, walking out of the shadows.
Another, a few inches shorter, walked out next to him as well. Both wore smirks on their faces. The first entered a defensive stance, inviting Team Seven to make the first move. The second, however, performed a brief sequence of hand signs. He muttered something under his breath, and then entered a defensive stance of his own.
"That all you got?" asked Naruto. "Jutsu that do nothing?"
"Arrogant kid," growled the shorter one. "Look."
Naruto immediately realized that they were surrounded by a dense fog, reducing visibility to roughly fifteen feet.
"Where did this—? Oh, I see, it was that jutsu you just did," Naruto noted.
"Well guys, we're not going to let a little fog stop us, nee?" grinned Sasuke.
"C-careful, it's not likely that they would use merely normal fog," advised Hinata.
"Well it's certainly not poison gas," said Sasuke, taking a deep breath to demonstrate.
"But we might as well do as Kakashi-sensei says and get out of here," said Hinata.
"Suit yourself," remarked Naruto. "We're staying to fight, dattebayo!"
"Very well," shrugged Hinata. She turned and ran in the direction of the marina where they had arrived, and quickly disappeared into the fog. However, about half a minute later, she reappeared directly opposite where she had left, running back towards them.
"This is bad," she decided.
"There's no escape for you three," said the shorter chuunin. "I've spent years perfecting this jutsu, and this is the fifth time I've used it in battle in its perfect form. All of the last four times, no one has come out alive. If you walk across any point on a circumference twenty-five feet in diameter from this spot, you'll be teleported diametrically across the circle, but you'll still be moving in the same direction. And if you can count and walk to exactly where the teleportation occurs, and you try to reorient yourself to face outside of the circle while still on the circumference, then you'll just be teleported back to where you originally were. You're trapped by 360 degrees (See A/N 1)."
"Of course, it only applies to you three," said the taller chuunin. "We're free to leave at any time."
"Kuso," growled Naruto.
The two chuunin shifted to different yet still defensive taijutsu positions, as if to emphasize their invitation for Team Seven to attack.
"Heh, you guys are asking for it," smiled Sasuke. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Just as he always did for his favorite ninjutsu, Sasuke made some familiar hand signs, held a cupped hand up to his mouth, and took a deep breath. Then he exhaled a massive sphere of flames, which he sent straight at the two chuunin.
They made no effort to jump out of the way. Instead, the fireball passed right through where they stood, and they were instantly wisped away, as if they were smoke.
"Kumo Bunshin?" thought Naruto out loud. "Well, I can beat that. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Naruto held his hands in the usual cross-shaped position, and half a dozen Kage Bunshin of Naruto appeared in front of the three genin.
"Ano, those are not Kumo Bunshin, Naruto-kun," Hinata offered. "They appear to be manipulating the individual water droplets of the fog to create illusions."
"So they're hiding somewhere in that fog," said Sasuke.
"Or they're not even in the circle at all, which is most likely how they claimed to be able to 'leave at any time,' even though there is now way I can foresee that they would be able to have this sort of jutsu effectively ignore the presence of specific people," Hinata continued.
"But they can't expect to hurt us with genjutsu alone," said Naruto. "They're going to have to come in and trap themselves in order to attack us."
"Perhaps they're lying about being trapped by 360 degrees; there must be an opening where they can enter and exit," added Sasuke.
"Or, alternatively," Hinata speculated, "they're bluffing, and they're just as trapped by this as we are."
Suddenly, a streak of amethyst lightning snaked between them, dispatching four of Naruto's Kage Bunshin.
"In case you've forgotten, we're still here," said the voice of the taller chuunin.
"We're done fooling around," said the voice of the shorter chuunin. "You kids are dead."
Another flash of lightning leapt out of the fog and dispelled the last two Kage Bunshin.
"Show yourselves, cowards!" yelled Sasuke angrily.
"Not a chance," replied one of the chuunin. And yet another bolt of lightning dashed through the air to strike Hinata.
Only Hinata wasn't standing there.
Instead, she was seven feet to the right, breathing slightly heavier than normal.
"Hey, Hinata, how'd you dodge that?" asked Naruto. "You couldn't have seen it coming…"
"H-hai, I could," she stuttered. "In case you've forgotten…"
She looked up, making her face more clear to Naruto and Sasuke. The skin around her eyes bulged with swollen veins.
"…I am of the Hyuuga clan, and as such, I have the byakugan."
"Fair enough," admitted Naruto, "but how does that let you see where the lightning's going to go?"
"They appear to aim the lightning by sending out a line of chakra for the lightning to follow, and my byakugan allow me to see chakra," explained Hinata.
"Wait," said Sasuke, "you should be able to see where the two chuunin are, too!"
"Hai," conceded Hinata, "but you see…there is a problem. They are still manipulating the water droplets to effectively make themselves invisible, so even if we were right in front of them, only I would be able to see them."
Sasuke groaned audibly. "This would be a really convenient time to awaken my sharingan, but no, life never works that way. Life likes to screw you over."
"At least you have a doujutsu to awaken," said Naruto. "I got nothing!"
"Well, you do have—"
"Jump!" yelled Hinata.
The three of them jumped out away from each other just in time to evade a lightning bolt.
"So how are we supposed to fight these guys?" asked Sasuke.
"I'll fight them using Jyuuken, and you two move when I tell you to," said Hinata, assuming an aggressive taijutsu stance.
"So…we're completely useless?" asked Naruto.
"Ano, well, ano…" Hinata stammered, blushing, "a-as f-far as c-c-combat is concerned."
"Great," complained Sasuke.
"Screw this," said Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Fifteen Narutos manifested themselves in a circular pattern around the three of them. Before they could as much as twitch, though, they were all vaporized by a bolt of lightning.
"I'm not giving up!" declared Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Another fifteen Narutos appeared in more or less the same positions as before, and again, they were quickly snuffed out by another streak of lightning.
At the same time, Hinata sprung forward at a seemingly empty space, jabbing and pounding at what appeared to be thin air. She moved to her left and right as if she was dodging attacks to those sides. Once in a while she'd receive a blow and let out a little grunt. She was fighting an invisible opponent.
"Move back!" she told them, and kept fighting the invisible chuunin.
They did as she advised, just in time to avoid being electrocuted by a lightning bolt.
Suddenly, Sasuke had the wind knocked out of him by the other invisible chuunin. He was followed seconds later by Naruto.
"Ungh, great, just great," grunted Sasuke. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed one of his signature fireballs, but it just left behind a trail of steam, and nothing more. Naruto, meanwhile, flung several kunai out in the same direction of the fireball. And they were attacked again, this time from behind. Then they were attacked in the head. Then in the groin. And the pummeling continued.
"This…is…so…dirty!" managed Naruto. "Stop…hiding…behind…your…genjutsu!"
Then Sasuke was punched in his left eye, eliciting a stream of blood and an accompanying cry. He fell over backwards onto the ground. Naruto, furious, jabbed angrily with a kunai where he believed the chuunin to be.
"He's over there, Naruto-niisan."
Naruto turned to face his brother, who was gripping his left eye with a bloody hand. But in his right eye was the red and black iris of a nearly-dead kekkei genkai.
The sharingan.
"What were you saying about life liking to screw you over, Sasuke-niisan?" asked Naruto.
"Just shut up and MOVE!" barked Sasuke, getting back onto his feet.
At that moment, Hinata slid in front of Naruto and took a blow to the head that had clearly been aimed for Naruto.
"A-arigatou gozaimasu, Hinata," Naruto said.
"O-of c-course, N-Naruto-kun," gasped Hinata.
"I take it you knocked out the other guy you were fighting," said Sasuke.
"Hai," replied Hinata, breathing heavily. Then she collapsed onto the ground from the severity of her head injury.
"Hinata!" cried Naruto.
"She did knock this guy out, too, though," said Sasuke. "So why isn't the fog dispelling?"
Then a flash of lightning struck Sasuke in his upper back, electrocuting him and making him scream.
"Sasuke-niisan!" yelled Naruto as Sasuke, too, passed out on the ground. Naruto looked up. "Teme!"
Just as Naruto said this, Hinata's unconscious body was wisped away in the fog, which Naruto gathered meant that the third chuunin, who until now had lain in wait, had captured Hinata.
"That does it…" growled Naruto in a voice that was not his own. It was deeper and more feral. Unnaturally so. Additionally, his body was surrounded by a swirling aura of red chakra. His fingernails lengthened into claws, his teeth sharpened and elongated, the whisker-like marks on his cheeks became more pronounced, he crouched onto all fours. And his eyes. Pupils like slits, and irises as red as the blood they yearned for.
"How dare you take Hinata-chan!"
At that point, the red chakra swirling around Naruto became so intense that it vaporized the fog, making the area once again clear. Naruto could see the bodies of the two chuunin who had been KO'd by Hinata.
But he wasn't paying attention to that. He had his gaze focused on the third, conscious chuunin.
He was running away, with Hinata over his shoulder.
"Get back here, teme!"
Naruto chased after the chuunin, sprinting forward on his hands and feet. The chuunin had only gone about twenty feet before Naruto came up from behind him and slashed at the back of his neck with his claw-like hands, drawing blood in four places. The man flinched, but he kept running. Then Naruto gripped him by the shoulder and slammed him into the ground, snapping several vertebrae. Naruto kicked the man in his groin, drawing a groan from his mouth.
"Don't ever lay a finger on Hinata-chan! I'll kill you!"
Naruto brought his foot up over the man's chest and stomped down hard, crushing the man's ribcage, heart, and lungs.
"N…N…N-Naru…to-kun…" whispered Hinata, waking up. "Th…that's…e-enough…"
And at once, the raging storm borne of Naruto's fury subsided. The red chakra dissipated, his teeth and eyes returned to normal, the whisker-like marks on his cheeks became mere lines, and his eyes returned to their ordinary cerulean. He looked down.
"D…did I…did I just…?" Naruto gasped, realizing what he had just done.
He turned around and picked Hinata up into his arms, causing her to blush furiously and pass out again.
"…Gomen nasai, Hinata…" Naruto whispered to her.
He noticed, then, that he was crying.
"Let's go," Naruto whispered again. And he began walking towards the marina. Along the way, he picked up Sasuke and slung him over his shoulder, so that he was then carrying both Hinata and Sasuke.
Meanwhile…
"Well, Strife, are you going to stop swinging that unnaturally large sword at me soon? It must be very draining on your strength," said Kakashi as he sidestepped another blow from Strife's sword.
"You want to see something different?" asked Strife tauntingly. "Fine, let me show you a technique I've only used twice before. You should spend the few moments you have left alive to consider how worthy you are to witness this. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Strife made a lengthy series of hand signs and slammed his right palm onto the ground in front of him. A web of kanji spread out from his palm on the ground. He pulled his hand back, and when he did, an enormous cloud of smoke appeared above the kanji. When the smoke cleared, there was a very old man, clad in elaborate robes, carrying an elegant staff, and with a thick, grey, braided beard that went all the way down to his feet.
"Who summons Ramuh, Rai no Kami?" it asked.
"It is I, Strife, who summons you."
"Ah, Strife," said Ramuh, "who are we fighting today?"
"That shinobi over there, Sharingan no Kakashi," answered Strife. "Destroy him!"
"Very well," said Ramuh. "Prepare to die!"
"Gomen, not today," remarked Kakashi.
Kakashi held his right hand down in front of himself and began moving the chakra in his hand and forearm. After a moment, it became a crackling mass of blue lightning.
"Do you expect to defeat me with my own element?" asked Ramuh, laughing.
"Hai," replied Kakashi, as if it were no big deal. He lifted up his arm. "Raikiri!"
Kakashi sprinted forward, holding his right hand out in front of him, and slammed it into Ramuh's face. He may have let out a scream, but if so, it was obscured by the sound of the Raikiri. Ramuh soon was sent back to the land of summons in another cloud of smoke.
"You're next," Kakashi told Strife.
Naruto didn't go far before he saw Kakashi stab Strife in the chest with a sphere of azure lightning, crackling to the sound of a thousand birds.
"Kakashi-sensei!" yelled Naruto after Strife fell to the ground.
"Naruto, why aren't you and the others at the marina?"
"It's a long story," replied Naruto.
"Let's get Hinata and your nii-san to the hospital. We'll talk there."
The next morning…
As Naruto sat in the hospital room in Nikaze where Hinata was being treated, he realized that he knew the answer to the question he had asked himself on the trip there:
No.
I do not like Hinata. I went berserk when she fell unconscious and tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra. I risked my life to save her. She is precious to me. I more than like her.
I love her.
Naruto was rather startled at his revelation at first, but he quickly realized that it all made sense. They had been on the same team for two years, and before that, they were good friends at the Academy. Naruto wasn't stupid; he knew that he had somehow used the Kyuubi's chakra—a very dangerous move—to kill a person who had merely knocked Hinata unconscious. He hadn't even fatally wounded her. And here he was, sitting in her hospital room instead of his brother's.
Not to mention that time at the beach… thought Naruto.
"Naruto," said Kakashi, entering the room.
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei?"
"We need to have a little talk."
"Am I in trouble or something?"
"No, we just need to talk."
"About what?"
Kakashi sat down on a chair opposite Naruto.
"Well?"
"I understand you made your first kill last night."
Naruto remembered. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He held his hands up to his eyes to cover them.
He was crying again.
"This is a difficult experience for most shinobi," ensured Kakashi, "and it's right on schedule, as far as your career as a ninja is concerned. Most ninja will have made their first kill by their second year."
Naruto continued to silently weep.
"However, it can also be very damaging emotionally, and it is known to turn some ninja into pacifists. I'd hate to see that happen to you, 'I'm-gonna-be-Hokage'-san."
Naruto grinned a little, but still cried.
"Granted, it is a big deal, taking another's life, but don't let it wreck you. These things happen on the field of battle, both to enemies and friends. We've just gone through a battle where people on both sides have been seriously wounded. One of them was killed. It's part of combat. You did what was necessary to win the battle and save your comrades."
"So you're telling me to suck it up?" asked Naruto quietly, not looking up.
"I'm telling you not to let it get to you. That doesn't mean you have to completely forget about the people you kill. I know a man named Kamille who prays for his victims every night, even though he has no religion. Find some way to cope with this experience, because if you're going to be Hokage, you're going to have to be a ninja, and if you're going to be a ninja, you're going to have to kill people. Sometimes you can help it. Sometimes you can't.
"Which brings me to my next topic. I'm not holding you responsible for this particular kill. I think you know why."
Naruto nodded, calming down. "I…wasn't myself. I wasn't just using the Kyuubi's chakra. I think…I think I let it possess me."
"No, if it had possessed you, suffice to say, we wouldn't be sitting here right now. Rather, it seems that it fueled your rage, making you berserk, if that red aura around your body was any indication."
"Hai, that sounds about right. It…told me things."
"What kind of things?"
"I honestly don't remember," said Naruto, shaking his head. "It was like a dream. You know what you're dreaming about when you're dreaming, but when you wake up, you don't remember sometimes, but you always remember that you had a dream at all."
"That was a dangerous move, although it was a very convenient deus ex machina. Is the seal on your stomach intact?"
Naruto unzipped his jumpsuit and pulled up his white undershirt, revealing his belly, still with the seal he had been given when he was born, whole.
"Hai," answered Naruto.
"Good," said Kakashi. "But in the future, try to avoid using its chakra. You weren't able to control yourself last night, and I doubt that you will be able to do so if you ever use it again. You're liable to hurt those you care about. I understand that you were doing it to protect your friends, but I assure you, the best action you can take to keep them safe is to avoid using its chakra. Remember that."
"I'll try," said Naruto.
"So find a healthy way of coping with the fact that you've killed a person, and you should be fine."
"Arigatou, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, finally having stopped crying.
One week later…
Team Seven had returned to Konoha. Sasuke had rehabilitated from his electrocution, Hinata had recovered from her head injury, and Naruto had had a helpful therapy session with a professional psychologist for ninja. The situation was improving.
Now they were standing outside the Hokage's office, about to report their mission to him. Kakashi had hinted at the possibility of the mission being increased in rank, but Naruto wasn't getting his hopes up.
"Come in," invited the Hokage after Kakashi knocked.
They opened the door and entered the familiar office of the Hokage. Kakashi opened a flap on his vest and pulled a scroll out. He stepped forward and placed it on the Hokage's desk.
"We have retrieved detailed information on the political uprising in Nikaze, Hokage-sama," announced Kakashi. "However, we were attacked by four ninja, three chuunin and one jounin, from Kumogakure who attempted to capture Hyuuga Hinata. Although we emerged victorious, they severely wounded two of us, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Uchiha Sasuke. The full report on the incident is contained in the scroll."
The Hokage nodded in acknowledgement. He opened the scroll and began to read it. After finishing the section about the combat, he said, "It appears the original rank for this mission, C, was inaccurate. If the skill level and rank of these ninja is correct—especially Strife, who, according to you, was able to use very rare type of ninjutsu that was believed to be dead, a type that, in ancient times, was called black magic—then the opponents you faced were three B-ranks and one A-rank. I shall re-rank this mission to a more appropriate A-rank."
"Domo arigatou gozaimasu, Hokage-sama," all four Team Seven members said in unison, bowing low.
The Hokage continued to read the rest of the report. When he finished, he announced, "This is interesting. I'll see what I can do to organize a meeting with the emperors of Fire Country and Lightning Country and this Lightning Count. I'll also meet with the Raikage to discuss the imprudent actions of these four shinobi."
"Domo arigatou, Hokage-sama," the four again said.
"You may leave," said the Hokage. "Collect your pay downstairs."
They left.
A month later…
Naruto and his family were sitting in on the couch in front of the TV in their living room watching a special news report.
"And so, after nearly one month of negotiations, the countries of Lightning and Fire have agreed to grant their mutual city of Nikaze its independence…" said the news reporter.
Kushina turned off the TV. "You boys should be proud of yourselves," she said. "You helped bring this about."
"All we did was relay information, kaa-san," said Sasuke.
"And without that information, the two countries might have taken military action against Nikaze, thinking that the Lightning Count was leading a violent rebellion."
"Well…arigatou, kaa-san," Naruto said.
"But you guys should get going," Kushina continued, "Kakashi called a team meeting on the bridge, remember?"
"Hai," acknowledged Sasuke, getting up.
"Sayonara, kaa-san!" Naruto said to as he and Sasuke left the house.
When they arrived at the bridge that had ever been their team meeting place, they found Kakashi and Hinata already waiting for them.
"Ah, good thing you're here," Kakashi said. "I was just about to explain to Hinata the motives behind the actions of Strife and his team, as the Sandaime has just found out."
"So why did they try to take Hinata?" asked Naruto.
"Hokage-sama said that, according to the Raikage, Strife and his group were part of a semi-independent organization within Kumo's ranks known as Cirrus. It is similar to the .hack/ROOTS division in our own ANBU, only not quite as power-hungry. They were trying to win the favor of the Raikage by completing an old, failed A-rank mission," Kakashi explained.
"Ano, y-you m-mean…" began Hinata.
"Hai, the same mission that called for the kidnapping of you when you were still very young," answered Kakashi.
"Those assholes!" exclaimed Naruto. "That issue was resolved years ago, and on the life of Hyuuga Hizashi!"
"Hai, well, the Raikage will reprimand the division immediately," Kakashi assured. "Now there's something else I need to discuss with you:
"The Chuunin Exams."