Disclaimer: DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
Through Crimson Eyes: Flight
"Yo!" Jiraiya saluted, sitting almost casually upon the window sill.
The two boys who currently sat within the room stared back at him, their red and green eyes glowing eerily in the light of the moon shining overhead (think Children of the Corn creepiness). Jiraiya shuddered, a large sweat drop rolling down the back of his head.
It was an unnerving sight to say the least.
"Hey ero-senin!" Naruto exclaimed, his face lighting up, providing a stark contrast to the decidedly unnerving appearance of his eyes. Shaking himself from that thought, his expression immediately hardens, glancing over at Naruto seriously "Hey kid. I don't think I need to explain why we should get going?"
Naruto gave him a slight nod, his own face now set and serious. He moved to extricate himself from the bed, moving uneasily, his muscles still a little sore from his experience.
"Yes, it is about time that we got going" Gaara stated, immediately standing and moving towards the window. Jiraiya stared at him.
"Wait… What?"
"I said that it was time that we got going" Gaara stated again, irritated at having to repeat himself.
"What are you talking about? You're not coming!" Jiraiya argued.
Gaara merely shrugged, unmoved by the older mans outburst. "I see no reason why not. I doubt I will be welcome here, and I have no real reason to return to my own village."
"Uh uh, absolutely no way! Looking after one young troublemaker is going to be bad enough, I am not going to look after two!" Jiraiya stated, folding his arms. He gave the red head a glare.
"I am going." Gaara stated calmly, meeting his gaze evenly.
"No you're not!" Jiraiya yelled.
"I am going."
"NO, you're not!"
"I am going."
"No you're… ok ok fine." Jiraiya groused.
Naruto just sat back watching the little mini drama unfold, trying desperately to hold in his laughter. He put his hands to his mouth, his cheeks turning purple with the effort.
Jiraiya gave Gaara one last sour look before shooting a glare at Naruto, moaning mentally to himself all the while 'Damn, I was hoping that one of those girls would come instead. I can't write anything for my book when I have two guys with me! And I am certainly not writing about that!'
"Are you ready Naruto?" Gaara asked.
Naruto had finally managed to stifle his chuckles, and was no making to leave, searching about the room for his customary orange ensemble. His expression had become a tad despondent, belying his growing depression. He looked back at Gaara.
"… Yeah…" He mumbled.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's just… why did it come to this? I don't want to leave. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HOKAGE DAMNIT! How can I be Hokage when I get kicked out?"
"You'll be even less likely to become Hokage if you stay here and let them kill you." Gaara stated reasonably.
Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms in a huff.
"Then let's go you two, no time to waste now. The party's almost here." Jiraiya stated harshly.
With that, he leapt out the window to the next roof top. Naruto and Gaara followed suit, Gaara helping to pick up Naruto as he fell unceremoniously upon landing. Looking back, they saw the large throng of people enter the hospital in a giant wave. Wasting no more time, they shot off across the roof tops.
It had been one long day of surgery since he had returned to Konoha after the failed mission. His body had pushed to the absolute brink, two dangerously large holes piercing his body at his shoulder and abdomen. It had taken Tsunade's assistant nearly the whole day to work the medical jutsus that would restore his body. The entire process was excruciating, his own hair being used to substitute for the missing flesh and tissue lost in the ferocious attacks. After it was done, he felt completely drained, though he was no longer in critical condition, and was scheduled for release the very next day.
Neji opened his eyes, scanning the hospital room that he had been sent to earlier that day prior to his operation. He looked over towards the small bowl of fruit left sitting beside his bed, his mind wandering briefly to the one who had brought them.
Tenten had tended to him nearly the whole evening, constantly trying to feed him various fruits, and altogether looking after him as one would a baby. He had mentioned several times that he was healed well enough that he could feed himself, yet the girl had still persisted. He sighed.
It was not as if he were blind to her feelings, or to her advances. They were, in fact, as clear to him as if she were wearing a painted sign. Yet she still insisted despite his rebuttals. In the end, he supposed that he would never really understand girls.
His mind invariably wandered to the strange occurrences that had happened that day. That explosion of chakra he felt had most certainly not been human. He knew exactly where it came from however. He would never forget that chakra, and he would never forget the visage that had grinned at him, its malevolent eyes burning into him. The feeling of it brought back that overwhelming fear that he had felt during the Chuunin exam, in his battle with Naruto…
Naruto…
He had disregarded him as a complete loser, one who foolishly sought to fight against his destiny. For such a failure to lecture him, to see himself on equal footing as him was an insult that he could not ignore. He had wanted, more than anything, to break him, to see him fall in the face of reality, to see him crushed by the same despair that had been plaguing him all his life.
Yet it was he that had been broken, and upon breaking, had been rebuilt into something better. Naruto had been the first to defeat him so completely, and he had defeated him utterly, not only in the battle, but in life as well. To face the same kind of hardship, to bear such a similar fate, and to rise above it, to fight it, even if there seemed to be no chance for success. Even a month ago, such a concept would have seen utterly laughable, yet now it only brought the hope, no matter how small, that he himself could fight his own destiny.
And he had never respected anyone more than he had him. He who had shown him how to break the bonds of destiny, and how to create his own path.
And that was why he was worried now. That explosion of chakra had been far more intense than anything he had felt before, and it had made the power that Naruto summoned during the exam seem childish in comparison. Yet it was unmistakably the same chakra.
A sound caught his ear, the sounds of numerous muffled voices like the humming of an angry beehive, seemed to float through the hallway. Neji's eyes shot open, the killer intent suddenly radiating into the building was easily perceived, and was directed at a single source.
And he could guess exactly what that source was. It was really no surprise that others in Konoha had felt that surge, and no doubt such a surge would inspire an equally powerful surge of panic amongst the citizens.
Stirring about in his bed, Neji moved to sit up, his shoulder throbbing painfully in protest. Pointedly ignoring it, he focused his chakra, letting it flow through his body where it pooled behind his eyes, the veins straining against his flesh as his bloodlimit, the Byakugan, was activated. Outside his room he could see a large mass of people moving down the hallway, making no real attempt at stealth or silence. He felt his stomach drop sharply as he noticed who walked at the head; his own uncle Hiashi.
Looking further, he noticed the room four doors down was currently being vacated by the very object of the mobs ire. He sighed in silent relief as he witnessed Naruto's departure, relieved that he would not be taken so easily. The presence of people outside the hospital might make his escape a bit more difficult however. Not to mention that once Hiashi found his quarry missing, he would no doubt activate his own Byakugan, thus making evasion nearly impossible.
Casting aside the sheets, he immediately moved to dress himself, his shoulder giving him only a minor amount of trouble. His wounds were as good as healed, and given the situation, he found no reason against taking an early leave. Besides, escape would be far easier for Naruto if he had someone to be eyes in the back of his head.
Sakura was, unfortunately, unable to reach the hospital before the crowd arrived, and had thus stuck to the shadows as best she could as she watched helplessly as the mob made its way inside. Several groups also made their way around the building, flanking it on all sides to cut off easy escape.
This was not good.
Making her way around, she managed to pinpoint Naruto's window, just in time to see three figures leap out from the sill onto the roof top of a nearby building. She breathed in a sigh of relief, thankful that someone had managed to get there to warn him in time. As she readied herself to pursue them, she noticed another figure leap after them from a window several rooms down, his long black hair waving behind him as he silently followed Naruto into the moonlit city. Loud cursing from Naruto's room drew her mind back to the matter at hand, the angry yells indicating that Naruto's pursuers had found the now empty room. Seconds later, several ninjas, Hiashi included, leapt to the hunt, taking to the roof tops as well.
Gritting her teeth, Sakura followed suit, trying to keep up with the bounding figures as they made their way across the rooftops.
The three were currently making their way towards Konohas southern entrance, their footfalls going silently across the rooftops.
SLAM
Almost silently at least…
"Damnit" Naruto yelled out, having collapsed for the second time since their desperate flight from the hospital. Jiraiya glared back at him, his expression clearly broadcasting his annoyance. Gaara stopped again to help the young ninja to his feet. After briefly brushing himself off, Naruto and the others once again began their retreat.
"Geeze, and here I thought that you could not possibly get any clumsier. I thought I had taught you better than that!"
Naruto shot a glare back at his sometime master "What are you talking about? Ero-senin no baka! You never taught me at all!"
"I taught you one of my most spectacular and awesome moves!" Jiraiya shouted back at him, managing to pose dramatically even in the middle of his all out run "I taught you how to live free of attachment to worldly things!"
"All you did was show me one cool technique and stole my precious frog wallet so that you could go get drunk and do stupid perverted stuff! I had to practically teach myself how to actually do the technique!"
"I taught you how to access the Kyuubi's chakra!" Jiraiya reasoned.
"YOU PUSHED ME OFF A CLIFF!" Naruto raged. So caught up in his ire, his legs gave out once again, sending him face first into the tiled roof top. Jiraiya and Gaara both stopped to help him up once again.
"… May I suggest that we focus on escaping…" Gaara stated evenly. He let out a deep sigh, the puff visible even in the warm night air. The sound of pursuit behind them served to remind them of just how severe the situation was.
"What's with you tonight anyway kid, you really are more clumsy than usual." Jiraiya asked, this time more seriously. Naruto seemed ready to shoot him another scathing retort, but seeing the Senin's expression his own anger cooled a bit.
"I don't know, my legs are feeling funny for some reason. My whole body still feels kind of numb…"
Jiraiya said nothing, this new revelation causing him to relapse into his own thoughts.
Suddenly, from nowhere, Naruto was tackled bodily aside, he and his attacker were thrown heavily against the tiled rooftop. Jiraiya and Gaara both stopped immediately, each taking a stance and bracing themselves to deal with this new threat.
Cough cough "What the Hell… Neji!" Naruto choked out, his body partially covered by his assailants. The body covering his own lifted, looking down upon him, his long black hair waving a bit in the night breeze, white eyes staring down at him. He immediately rose to his feet, helping the blond haired ninja up with him.
"Jeeze, what the hell did you think you were doing!" Jiraiya yelled irritably. Wordlessly Neji pointed over to where Naruto had previously been, and there, glinting in the moonlight, were four thin shafted throwing spikes.
"I would suggest that we get moving, no doubt there are others lurking about ready to attempt the same move." Three more spikes imbedded themselves in the ground inches in front of Naruto, pointedly reinforcing Nejis argument.
Naruto nodded wordlessly, the full weight of the situation dawning on him completely. It was clear to every one that those darts were aimed to kill, a fact which Jiraiya confirmed when he quickly examined one of the darts before leaping to the retreat once again.
"Poison… Strong too. I think that if there were any question as to the motives of Hiashi and the others, they have just been answered."
"Hiashi?" Naruto asked.
"My uncle…" Neji replied, his expression dark.
"Your uncle... WAIT! Hyuuga Hiashi?" Naruto shouted. The dark haired ninja simply nodded.
"But why the hell is someone like that after me!"
"I… I don't really know myself. I don't know what you did to warrant this sort of reaction, but it was very apparent that they wished you harm, and this attack confirmed it. It seems that you are marked for death, and Hiashi has involved members from his own household. If that is the case, then you are in a great deal of trouble.
"So in addition to an angry mob we also have to deal with assassins from the Hyuuga, all of which I assume are capable of using your family's blood limit?" Jiraiya asked.
Neji nodded "Yeah, even now I can see nearly a dozen all about. You wouldn't have a chance without some method of sensing them. But we have to move quickly, they are already moving into flanking positions."
Naruto and the others silently seconded that strategy and quickened their pace, Nejis constant report of their pursuers allowing them to avoid any violent entanglements.
After about 5 minutes the gates of Konoha were in sight, looming above the rooftops, the sight all the sweeter as it meant that escape was nearly theirs.
"Alright! Almost there!" Naruto whooped, shooting off quickly, leaving his companions in the dust.
"Naruto wait, we don't know how ssafe it… NARUTO WATCH OUT!" Neji shouted.
"Huh!" Naruto asked intelligently. No sooner had he said it, a burning pain suddenly struck him in his left leg, sending him off balance in mid air. He plummeted downward, impacting heavily upon the street below, casting up a small cloud of dust.
"SHIT!" Jiraiya exclaimed, rushing down quickly to check on him. Gaara and Neji followed.
As soon as they landed, Neji tensed, his eyes moving about frantically in all directions. From the shadows, almost two dozen forms appeared, each garbed in full ninja attire and bearing the emblam of the Hyuuga main house.
"It seems that they were waiting for us…" Gaara observed, the sand from his gourd beginning to swirl about him, its violent movement mirroring his own surging anger.
"Damnit!" Neji said quietly.
AN: Ok I first want to express my apologies at how long this took me to write. After all my finals were completed I was completely brain fried, and when I recovered my groove on this story was completely broken. I had to go through and completely reread my past chapters several times before I was able to continue again. As it is, I am not particularly happy with this chapter, but hopefully my inspiration will come trickling back and the story should once again be in full swing.
I really wanted to give Neji a part in this story, and he will most likely have a larger part in the whole saga. And don't worry, I plan on adding some of the others as well, not too mention that Hinata is not out of this just yet and will most likely make an appearance of her own.
Again, terribly sorry for how late this chapter was, but if my inspiration picks up again, I should once again be on a fairly regular update pattern. And hopefully future chapters will be better.