One more day left until Thanksgiving break!!!! Sweet!!!!
I've suddenly got this new slew of readers, and I honestly don't know how they found me. I'm befuddled (in a good way)!
disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just this plot and my mild paranoia.
Warning: Extra Swearing this time!!!!
The blue-haired Hyuuga and the blonde red-eye blinked at the familiar name.
"Sasuke Uchiha…" Naruto repeated, trying to place the name. "Unusual name. Are you from the east?"
"Yes," Sasuke gave an emotionless reply.
"Really…" Uzi began to move his arm back in preparation for wielding his trademark submachine gun. "And you are here because…?"
"I am looking for my older brother Itachi."
"Who?" Hinata inquired, as she couldn't recall there being a second Uchiha.
"Itachi Uchiha," interrupted the red haired woman behind Sasuke. "Missing ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, S-class criminal, and member of the Akatsuki organization."
"She a subordinate?" The eastern red-eye asked tersely.
"Who the hell…!" The woman started her rant but never finished.
"Yes," The younger Uchiha cut her off. "That's Karin. She's our tracker. He's Juugo," he tilted his head toward the towering hulk of a man, "And he's Suigetsu," he tilted his head back at the former Mist swordsman.
"They're not from Konoha…" Hinata spoke up. She knew for a fact that none of these people were ever native to her old village. "So where are they from?"
The dark man sighed. "A lot's happened since you two left. I suggest you take a seat."
Naruto obeyed the suggestion, but his apprehensive gaze never left the group. The Hyuuga woman took a seat next to him across from the now relaxed newcomer easterners.
"To begin, Konoha has been destroyed."
"What?" The eastern duo spoke at once. Hinata's voice carried surprise while Naruto's tone still wavered with distrust of the newcomers.
"About two years after you left, the village was attacked by the combined forces of the Sound and Sand villages. The enemy shinobi were eventually repelled by our retaliation force, but their secret weapon made short order of our forces and the rest of the village."
"Secret weapon?" Hinata repeated.
"Gaara of the Sand. He transformed into the one tailed beast, Shukaku, and leveled the village. Most of the Konoha shinobi were killed, and the rest were taken by Orochimaru for experiments."
"What about the civilians?"
"They suffered the same fate."
"And who's Orochimaru?"
The younger Uchiha silently regarded her for a moment. "He's dead, so there's no need for concern. I killed him."
"Is that it?" Naruto broke his silence with an uncaring voice.
"That's the most of it. After the village was destroyed, I went under the tutelage of Orochimaru and killed him a few years afterward." He mentioned his murder with no remorse or sadness. "I'm currently looking for my older brother."
"Why?"
"When I was young, he killed off my entire clan. I intend to take my revenge and then restore my clan."
Naruto stared at the raven haired man with apathetic eyes. "Tough shit."
"What?" He seemed genuinely surprised along with the rest of his group.
"So you lost your family? That's it?" Hinata could sense the blonde's growing irritation. "I never even had one, and that damn city kicked me out for a crappy reason. I've lost more friends than you've ever had, and I'm still livin' it up."
"What the hell are you saying?!" The newcomer let his anger get the better of him. "Are you saying I don't deserve to kill that bastard?!"
"No," he continued in a calm yet demeaning voice, "I'm saying you're a damn fool. You spent your whole life preparing to kill one man instead of moving on? You're the biggest fool I've ever met."
"You have no idea what I've been through! How dare you…!"
"How dare you!!" Naruto exploded with anger. The easterners tensed as they felt a sudden wave of anger radiating from the blonde red-eye. "You want to cast your judgment on me before without hearing about your own faults?! You're a whiny little shit!! I wish I never met you, you pathetic little piece of self-absorbed shit!!"
Sasuke was initially taken aback by Naruto's rant, but he composed himself. "I didn't come here to fight, Naruto." He tried to calm the blonde down. "Itachi is searching for you to use your 'tenant' in the Akatsuki's weapon. As long as I stick around you, I will have my chance at vengeance."
Naruto's burning red eyes died down under his sunglasses as his temper cooled. "Fine, follow me around if you want. But I'm not helpin' you out if you get into anything deep! Got that?"
The Uchiha nodded nonchalantly while his subordinates stared in shock at the blonde's sudden mood swing.
"Good. Hinata," he turned towards the blue-haired woman and forced a smile. "Contest!"
She returned the false smile. "You got it."
The couple started down the street with the four newcomers trailing them at a reasonable distance, whether due to fear from Naruto's outbreak or leaving enough distance so as to not discourage Itachi from making his move was anyone's guess. The silence between the red-eye and his white-eyed companion was incredibly awkward.
"Oh, yeah!" Naruto suddenly broke the secrecy of sound. "I can take this off now." He started undoing the bandage on his right arm. "Wanna see?"
Hinata nodded with a light smile. She welcomed the subject change.
Uzi pulled apart the adhesive portions of his dressing and the cloth spiraled off his arm, revealing two new tattoos. The ink art consisted of two simple red lines; the longer one ran straight from his shoulder to a circle just behind his wrist, the other one was located on the other side of his arm and shared the exact same pattern except that the line extending from the circle ended on the edge of his forearm.
"Interesting…" The white-eyed bounty hunter said as she activated her bloodline. She had previously witnessed that the tattoos on his left hand always carried an extra (yet harmless) amount of chakra, but the new ones already stored enough to be a threat. She could see the chakra radiating along the inked arm as if ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Do you know how it works?"
"Eh, the doc briefed me on it. He said that I could extend my energy from this somehow. I'm not too sure how to use it yet, but time will tell."
She smiled at her former crush. "At least there's one thing to keep him distracted?" She thought about his outburst at the younger Uchiha. "Is he like that all the time, though?"
-----------------------------
The metal competition had started many hours ago and was creeping into the early hours of the next day. Hinata learned that Soukan was a serious music city that rivaled Roventia in terms of its concerts. Sure, Roventia had the best synthesized audio pleasure around, but Soukan was home to several big-name rock bands.
Naruto's delight was palpable. He had shed his glasses long ago, revealing his crimson eyes to anyone who cared. While this initially worried Hinata, her anxiousness was eased by the warm reception he received from the crowd who noticed him. "The red-eyes must be popular here as well…"
The contest portion of the concert had ended recently with the final band delivering a heart pounding performance. Before the announcer began bringing out each band to receive their popularity cheer, Uzi dragged Hinata to the mosh pit. With each passing band, Naruto and the Hyuuga, who got caught up in his exuberance, cheered at the top of their lungs for each group. In the end though, a winner was chosen and an encore was given. As the victorious bunch left the stage, the star attraction of the night was brought out for a few more songs before the day was illuminated. It was, apparently, one of the popular bands that originated in the city. After they performed the final song, the announcer entered the stage to bring some special news.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!!" He was met with cheering, more or less towards the band rather than him. "We have an unexpected guest here tonight!! You all know him, you all love him!!" He pointed into the area directly in front of the stage. "I give you Uzi!!" The roar of the crowd increased significantly.
"What?!" Naruto was shocked to be pointed out.
The announcer lowered his mike and motioned for the blonde to come on stage. The popular red-eye complied and was met with even louder cheering from the audience. He was handed the microphone and his boisterous side took over.
"What's up, Soukan?!" He yelled into the mike; grin as wide as his face. "Tonight was awesome, wasn't it?!" The audience voiced their positive opinion rather loudly again and began chanting for an encore, implying him to be a part of it.
"You want an encore, do ya?!" Yelled the lead singer. "We'll give ya one!" He turned aside to Naruto and said, "Dude, you got any special requests we know?"
His face lit up. "You bet! 'Metal Livin'!" As a member handed him an electric guitar and the blonde began tuning it to his liking, he leaned towards the edge of the stage and said to Hinata, "We gotta split right after this! Get ready to go!"
She nodded in understanding. Everything was already prepped for travel, so all she had to do was enjoy her former crush's debut. She noticed that he started pumping small amounts of the fox's chakra into his hands and his fingernails lengthened and sharpened in response. "Is he gonna play that way?!"
Sure enough, he was. The band started the opening notes and Naruto joined in with amazing speed in his hands. He used his longer nails as picks and used the excess energy to move his hands back and forth quicker. The result: the most heart pounding rock anyone had heard all night. The requested song was only a few minutes long, but Hinata felt as if each minute were ten. By the time the fast-paced melody was complete, she noticed she hadn't taken a breath and wasn't alone in her admiration of the blonde red-eye, as a horde of rocker fangirls were equally entranced by the popular red-eye's performance.
"Thank you!!" Naruto yelled into the mike. "You guys have been awesome!! I'll catch you later!!" The crowd cheered him on and the female zealots unsuccessfully mobbed him as he leapt from the stage and took hold of Hinata and pushed his way through the crowd.
As soon as they were in the clear, he broke out in a run with Hinata in tow. "Naruto! That was awesome! I didn't know you could play so well!"
He smiled at her. "Yeah, well, when you're holed up for four weeks with nothing but a guitar, you learn something. My admirers following?"
The Hyuuga activated her Byakugan to check for the 'admirers', also known as Sasuke and his team. "Yep, they're still there. They're keeping their distance as before."
"Great," he replied with a hint of disdain in his voice. His voice changed to one of surprise as if he had just realized something. "Wait, you really thought I was good?"
The easterners continued out of the city until they were well away when the military got wind of Uzi's appearance.
I was listening to a group called Sabaton when I thought rock should somehow be incorporated here at some point. I heard their song "Metalizer", and it has a FSKING FAST guitarist, so I thought, "If Naruto had extra picks he could surely do this to...". And how else would he get extra picks? Use fox chakra on himself!
By the way, go buy a Sabaton cd (I wouldn't dare suggesting you download them...). It's good stuff if you like rock.
Well, stay tuned for at least one more chapter before Turkey day. If any of you are traveling, stay safe! Enjoy your family time!
