Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto. If me own Naruto, me no sit here and write story based on Naruto… plus me be rich!
Through Crimson Eyes: Betrayals
She had left the complex shortly after her sister's final words to her, the anxiety that had been building inside of her almost ready to burst. She had never believed that it could possibly come to this, had never believed that someone like Naruto could be hated so much that they would actually seek his death. That her father was actually leading such a horrific action was another strike against her already emotionally fragile state.
Shaking away those thoughts, she bit her lip lightly in determination, hoping against hope that she would arrive in time, and praying that when she did she would be able to do something to stop this.
She had to do this.
She owned Naruto at least that much…
"DAMNIT" Jiraiya swore as he looked around at the ninjas situated in flanking positions on all sides. The Ninjas were a considerable distance from them, carefully positioning themselves to block any possible escape route, yet keeping well and clear of the highly dangerous sennin. There were roughly 12 of them, that Jiraiya could see anyway. He had no doubt that there were others, hanging back in the shadows, ready to jump in should things get out of control. After quickly gauging the situation, he shot a quick look towards Naruto.
Not good.
Naruto was already beginning to sweat heavily as the poison acted in his system, and judging by how quickly and effectively it was working; it was most certainly a lethal dose, enough to bring down even someone of Naruto's unnatural constitution. To his left, Neji stood steadfast, the veins in his eyes pulsing as his Byakugan went to work, assessing everything around him. He dropped into the classic Hyuuga fighting stance.
To his right, Gaara's sand was now swirling about him in a miniature maelstrom, the boys eyes cold and hard with chillingly deadly intent. Every now and then the sand would lash out, its movements demonstrating the young man's mood eerily, slashing at any ninja who began to edge too close. It would not be enough though, Jiraiya knew. They were outnumbered, not too mention that these ninjas were professionals, members of the Hyuuga clan branch family judging by their insignia. They might be able to take out several of the surrounding ninjas, but they would quickly be brought down in turn by the many others lurking about.
Neji's thoughts were along the same line. Though he did not doubt that he could hold his own against them for a short time, he would quickly be overwhelmed. His major worry, however, was the impending arrival of Hiashi. He could already see him approaching across the roof tops, and would be only a minute before he came. And when he did, and saw that he was here…
Neji had no doubts as to his reaction.
He would not back down however. Hiashi and the others were wrong, he knew that wholeheartedly, without even having to know about the situation. That Naruto did anything that warranted death in such a manner was unthinkable. Sure he could agree that Naruto was a bit of a trouble maker, he had heard more than enough stories, but this was far too much. He also doubted that it was because of his failure to return Sasuke, such an attempt would be considered heroic even though it failed. No, it was something else, something he had had a feeling about for awhile, ever since his battle with Naruto during the final exam. But it didn't matter; he would not back down, regardless of the consequences involved!
Gaara himself was suffering under a sensation of decidedly unwelcome nostalgia. Such a similar situation had befallen him before, and he knew very well the kind of hatred levied against Naruto now. Looking about him, he could not help the old stirrings of his hate, rage and bloodlust from welling up inside of him. He knew only too well how this situation would end, and he vowed that he would make sure that it was they who would be taken away in body bags! Casting a quick glance down at Naruto his sand began surge wildly at what he saw. His breathing became quick, heaving heavily into the night air with the desire for blood with such lust that he had not felt since his battle with Naruto.
A hand on his shoulder, however, disrupted his thoughts, and he shot a cold glare over at the older man who would dare to try and hold him back. Jiraiya simple shook his head, stating silently that it would not be prudent to attack in such a position. Despite himself, Gaara forced himself to relax and once again seal away his murderous tendencies. That did not stop him from having several pleasant thoughts regarding these ninja's entrails.
The ninjas all about them began a cautious advance.
A slight noise outside his window jarred him fully awake.
Tossing aside the large sand filled training bag he had been sleeping with, the self proclaimed Green Beast of Konoha leaped out of bed, hoping to catch a glimpse of what had awaken him. Now that he was up, he could hear various faint sounds, like soft footfalls, upon the roof above his head. Looking out the window he was just in time to see a familiar girl dash quickly down the deserted street, her pink hair flowing behind her as she ran.
"Ah, Sakura-chan" Lee exclaimed, the confusion temporarily put on hold as he mooned over his love. She was gone quickly however, causing his weird, even for an adolescent, fantasy to abate as curiosity quickly took hold. Immediately rushing to his drawer, he cast off his pajamas, an interesting heart patterned version of his usual training attire. Dressing in his customary fashion fou pa of an outfit, he leapt promptly out the window to chase after his pink haired beauty. Plus he was rather curious about those footsteps he heard earlier.
"This is the end of the line." A voice shouted.
Jiraiya, Neji and Gaara all glanced in the direction of the voice, seeing several shadows descend from the roof tops. Landing before them stood Hiashi and two more Hyuuga ninjas, both members of the main family.
"This chase has gone on far enough! For the sake of Konoha, I demand that you relinquish Naruto over to us. If you comply, there will be no need for any further discomfort."
Neji, taking a deep breath to steady himself, stepped forward, resuming a defensive stance. Hiashi, seeming to take note of him for the first time, looked at him with a mixture of anger and regret.
"We won't simply relinquish Naruto over to y-you, Hiashi-sama" Neji stated, stuttering only slightly. For one such as Neji however, who seemed to always carry himself with nothing but the utmost confidence, such a small slip in his otherwise cool exterior seemed to serve as a sign of just how bad things could become.
"Step aside Neji." Hiashi commanded softly.
"No."
The Hyuuga patriarch pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He knew what this might come down to, as did the young Hyuuga standing before him. In many ways he was more fond of Neji than even his own children, seeing in him the true potential of the Hyuuga clan, not to mention that he was the only surviving legacy of his departed brother. He hated the idea of what he might be forced to do.
"You know what will happen if you do not obey, Neji. Don't force me to do this! Don't throw your life away for the sake of this… demon…"
'Demon? Why would Hiashi-sama refer to Naruto as a demon?' Neji thought. The truth seemed to hover just out of his reach. A brief image flashed before his minds eye, an image of a demonic visage. It was the face that he had seen in his battle with Naruto during the exam, when Naruto called up that new, terrifying chakra.
Neji looked back, and for the first time that night, noticed the changes in Naruto's face. The marks upon his face, normally nothing more than 6 thin slits, were now wide and jagged, nearly covering both cheeks. His half open eyes were no longer the familiar blue, but a fearful crimson.
Hiashi completed Neji's observations "The boy who you see lying there has been a scourge upon our village for the last 13 years. It was he who ravaged our village all those years ago; he was the creature responsible for the deaths of so many, including the 4th Hokage, the strongest ninja in our village in generations!"
'He can't possibly mean what I think he means! Can he!" Neji thought frantically, the truth now dawning on him.
"Yes, Naruto is that demon, the one you heard about. He is Kyuubi, the Nine-Tails!"
It all made perfect sense now that he thought about it. The raw power, that demonic image, and his appearance now. But he had always been told about how the Kyuubi had been defeated by the 4th, had never even dreamed that it might actually have been amongst them the whole time. 'The adults knew though' a Neji concluded in a flash of insight. 'But why would they choose to act now! Why now after so many years!'
"Now that you know the truth" Hiashi went on, noting the expressions flashing across Neji's face, "Please stand down. There is no reason for you to defend such a creature."
Other memories surfaced in Neji's mind. Images of Naruto during the exam, his seemingly endless optimism and bravado. His cousin, Hinata, and her face when she looked at him from afar. He recalled their own battle, how even when Naruto had used his new chakra, had still been completely human. His own lesson which he had been forced to learn.
"Stand DOWN!" This time Hiashi's pronouncement carried the tone of an obvious threat.
"… No."
Hiashi sighed "Very well then…" He raised his hands, his fingers moving through a series of seals, seals which Neji, and all branch members, were familiar with.
Sakura continued to rush through the empty streets, he hair trailing behind her. She could hear the sounds of foot falls just ahead of her, telling her that she was definitely going the right way. But she had no way of knowing whether or not she would be in time. She could only hope that she made it.
And if she did, what then?
This thought caused her to reel inwardly. She had been so caught up in simply getting there that she had no idea as to what she would do when she did. She supposed that the answer was obvious; she would stand by Naruto, her teammate, no matter what the situation. But she was enough of a realist to know that her presence would not make a difference, not with the odds stacked against him.
That did not matter to her though. She had let Naruto down too many times before, and she would be damned if she let him down now when he needed someone the most. And maybe, just maybe, they would be able to find a way out of this situation.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Sakura blanched in irritation at the unnecessarily loud proclamation which could only belong to…
"Hi Sakura-Chan" Lee chirped as he landed into a run right beside her, his two pet caterpillars rising high on his forehead as he gave her a large smile. While she could admit that she found Lee to overall be a very likeable person, she none-the-less found herself fighting back the urge to deck him into next week.
"Lee, this isn't exactly a good time right now." Sakura sighed.
Lee's face suddenly took a more serious edge "So I have heard, I woke up to a bunch of footfalls on my roof, and when I looked out of the window, I happened to see you. What is going on? Are we under attack!" Lee asked, his hands clenching anxiously.
"Sort of, yeah."
"No problem, I Lee, the Green Beast of Konoha, will protect this village, and my fair Sakura-chan from these intruders! YOSH… oof!"
Sakura couldn't fight the urge any more, and noted with a degree of both satisfaction and guilt as Lee crashed headlong into a building behind her. Lee was back beside her in only a second however, his face bruised and his left eye swollen to unnatural proportions.
"Lee, this is serious! We have to get to the main gates as fast as possible!"
"I wath beng sseriousth!" Le whined, barely able to talk through his swollen lips.
"Whatever."
"So then, what is this about?" Lee asked, his swelling suddenly reduced to a more manageable level.
This set Sakura's mind back on track, and her face fell as she was once again hit with the enormity of the situation at hand. "Naruto is being hunted."
"WHAT? Who is chasing Naruto-kun, I'll take them out! What village is attacking? Is it the Sand or the Sound again!"
"…Leaf…" Sakura muttered under her breath.
"I'll pound them into the dirt! I'll break their arms and legs, and then their… huh, did you say Leaf?"
"Yeah."
This soured Lee's mood considerably. Like Sakura, the concept of Leaf ninjas seeking to kill Naruto came as a complete surprise. His large brows furrowed as he wracked his brain in an attempt to understand why such a thing would happen.
"But why would they be after Naruto-kun? What did he do?" Lee asked, completely at a loss.
Sakura merely shrugged, her face filled with worry.
"Surely it isn't because Naruto failed in that mission? We all failed, but I didn't think that that would be the cause of…"
"It isn't that!" Sakura cut him off. She had been debating with herself as to whether or not she should tell Lee the truth. She knew Lee was a really good person, who was almost as fanatic about his precious people as Naruto was. But how would Lee's zealous devotion to his comrades fare against the truth? There was only one way to know for sure however.
"Lee, there is something that I have to tell you, about Naruto…" She began.
"Something that you have to tell me… Wait, is this about…"
Sakura looked at him quizzically 'Does he already know!'
Lee looked over at her, his face completely serious "Did you and Naruto-kun elope!"
It took all her concentration to keep from pitching forward into a massive face plant. As it was, she narrowly avoided running into a street light.
"Ummm, did you?"
"NO!"
"Oh… so what then"
Calming down, Sakura began to patiently explain the whole situation to Lee, recounting the incident in the hospital as well as the conversation that she had heard between Tsunade and the bloodthirsty mob just a while ago. To his credit, Lee took the information rather well.
"WHAT? YOU MEAN THAT NARUTO-KUN IS REALLY THE EVIL DEMON KYUUBI, AND THAT HE HAS COME BACK TO LIFE TO DESTROY OUR VILLAGE AGAIN?"
"NO! THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID AT ALL!" Sakura shouted back, trying to calm the taijustsu master down.
"But Naruto-kun is the Kyuubi!" Lee asked, more quietly this time.
"…sort of."
"Well that doesn't matter. Naruto is Naruto, and as his comrade I will do what I can to defend him! YOSH!" He cried out again, flinching only slightly at the expected strike from his outburst.
Sakura just smiled though, glad that Lee seemed willing to take Naruto's side in this. He could use all the help he could get right now.
"Thanks Lee."
"No problem" Lee said, pounding his chest dramatically.
Their attention was jerked abruptly forward however as a feeling of cold dread washed over the both of them. The air was split by a bloodcurdling scream.
No sooner had Hiashi completed his hand seals, Neji was awash with a wave of utter pain and agony. With a gasp, he dropped limply to his knees, clutching at his head were his symbol, the symbol of the Hyuuga branch house, began to blaze with an eerie blue glow. For a moment he could not even breathe, his entire body suddenly aching as each bone in his body felt as though it were throbbing, about ready to explode.
Finally, after several eternal seconds, a scream tore from his throat, a single loud wail which carried across the night air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Hiashi's face was also filled with agony, though of a different sort. He had never wanted it to come to this, nor had ever wanted Neji, who he felt was as close to him as a son, to be put in this situation. However, he had a task to complete, no matter how high the personal cost, and if Neji stood in the way, then there was little choice. As it was, he was hoping to keep the seal activated only long enough to incapacitate him, though he understood well enough that even without meaning to, the seal could very well kill him.
"ENOUGH HIASHI! STOP THIS!" Jiraiya shouted. His hands were beginning to motion through seals of his own, but he knew that he would not be able to disrupt Hiashi soon enough to stop the jutsu already at work. Neji continued to scream.
'No choice then, I'll have to use that jutsu! I'll definitely get kicked out of the village for this one!' Jiraiya thought to himself. He was only half way through the technique however when he suddenly felt a chill run down his back, and a low growl sound from the ground behind him. Gaara, who had been fending off the various ninjas with his sand, heard the sound as well, as did everyone else in the vicinity.
"W-what was that" Hinata stuttered. She was close to the main gates now, glad that her intuition had led her in the correct direction. As she approached however, her mind and body was suddenly overcome by a crippling terror. The murderous intent washed over her like a wave, and she was forced to stop and catch her breath.
"Was that… Naruto-kun?" She wondered. She hoped to Kami that it wasn't, that maybe it was Gaara or some one else. She did not want to believe that such horrible energy could come from Naruto. She knew logically however that there could be no one else in Konoha that possessed that level of power, and given the truth about Naruto that she had just learned, there could be no doubt.
Swallowing her fear, she forced her locked muscles to move again, and leaped towards the next roof top, the main gate now coming into sight.
There was an intense burning sensation all through his body. He was only vaguely aware of himself as he plummeted to the ground below, his attention focused entirely on the pain in his leg, and the agony that was working its way up into the rest of his body.
Naruto did not know how long he had been lying there; seconds, minutes, hours. There was no way to tell. His eyes were barely able to take in the environment around him, though he was able to make out the slightly blurred shape of a large figure looming over him. His consciousness faded.
He came back to the sound of voices, familiar voices. He knew that he should know them, but he couldn't quite place where. Another voice intruded on his consciousness, this one less familiar, but for some reason his heart began to beat faster when he heard it.
Then there came a scream, the sound piercing the haze about his consciousness like a razor sharp kunai. All at once he could feel his blood beginning to surge, a new sensation beginning to well up inside of him. His eyes flew open, fully focused but for the red haze that seemed to settle over everything.
He heard a growl, and it took him a while to discern that it had come from him. Rising slowly to his feet, he could feel a tremendous amount of energy surging through every vein in his body. The burning pain began to subside as this new fire burned away the agony, leaving only a surging euphoria.
A ripple went down the length of his spine, as if all this energy were pooling in his tails.
Tails?
When did he have tails?
Oh yeah, now he remembered, he was a nine-tails fox. It all made perfect sense to him now.
His red gaze shifted, settling upon the figure of a human in front of him, its white eyes wide with terror.
He found that he enjoyed the smell of terror.
Jiraiya didn't need to look at Hiashi's face to know that shit had just been flung from a catapult into an industrial fan. The Hyuuga patriarch's white eyes went wide and his skin went completely ashen. The ninjas all around stopped their advance and began to edge backwards their faces mirroring that of their leader.
Hyuuga Neji had stopped screaming, his body lying slumped on the ground, his shallow fall of his chest the only indication that the young nin was still alive.
Risking a look behind him, Jiraya turned around to see just how bad the situation had gotten.
H really wished he hadn't.
Naruto's body was surging with rippling red chakra, his eyes wild without any trace of recognition or humanity whatsoever. His body was jerking spasmodically has his form began to shift.
FWOOOOM!
One red furred tail sprouted from his lower back. Then a second. A third.
Naruto let off a feral howl, the transformation obviously inflicting a great deal of pain. His arms grew, red hair growing upon them as well. His feet burst from their sandles, growing and transforming until they resembled animal paws more than human feet.
A fourth tail, then a fifth.
The blond's hair began to grow, flowing down his back, the color shifting into a light red with black tips. His jacket tore at the seams, then at the zipper as the poor piece of clothing was no longer able to contain the much larger form.
"EVERY ONE GET BACK!" Jiraiya shouted, stopping only long enough to pick up Neji's comatose form before leaping back. Hiashi and the other Hyuuga ninjas were quick to heed this bit of wisdom. Even Gaara found that retreat was a prudent suggestion. He could feel his own blood pound, reacting instinctively to the raw power that Naruto was now putting out.
A sixth tail sprouted.
"KILL IT, KILL IT NOW!" Hiashi screamed, his mouth practically foaming as he gave the command.
All at once, hundreds of kunai, darts, and spikes flew towards the transforming Naruto, only to be deflected harmlessly aside by the barrier of chakra that had formed around him like a cocoon.
The seventh tail shot out from the small of Naruto's back, each tail now twitching and weaving independently of one another.
He looked up, his gaze locking on Hiashi.
AN: Yay, I've managed another chapter. Not only that, but I feel the inspiration flowing through me now, so my next chapter should only be a few days away. Terribly sorry about the wait.
As it is, I am really pleased with this chapter, and chapter ten will only get better as we get to see Naruto in action. Hiashi and the others are definatel going to need a change of underwear by the end of the next chapter.