Chapter 20

The last chapter I posted was something I had written years ago before I left to... well... adult. I adulted all over the place. That's life. Sometimes you have to do life stuff. I finished up a day before posting, and was left to wonder "What now? Do I let it lie or try to finish it?" I haven't really thought about this story in years, and I still have life things to deal with. But I always hated unfinished stories. So what I have done is written the outline of how the rest of the story was meant to go, interspersed with what little tidbits that I had already written. Thanks so much for your patronage and patience. I'm sorry I couldn't finish the story the way I wanted to, which is the way you deserved.

-Bakagaijin

Hinata would awaken, to watch Zoo working on something. Constantly moving around, carving markings and moulding chakra. He kept his eye on Hinata, Naruto, and the surroundings of the three. As the night wears on the many battles surrounding them come to a close. Zoo's compatriots fall to assembled Ninja, and those well enough to continue the fight would make their way to the place where Hinata and Naruto were being held.

As they gather one after the other, Zoo engages in some back and forth repartee. They demand he release Naruto and Hinata, and of course he refuses. Waiting all this time for the moment at hand, there is no way to turn back, and he claims there is nothing that they can do about it. With that he produces three shadow clones and sends them into battle. Two of the group slip past the clones to confront the original. In a pitched battle between an exhausted group of shinobi, and a Zoo with split concentration, results in a stalemate. The stalemate holds up to the point where the moon hangs high over the sky. When the light of the moon begins to change color to a dark blood red, it also begins to disappear. The moon hangs over the sky receding into a lunar eclipse.

When the eclipse is completed, Zoo ignites torches all around the area in black fire. The battlefield is illuminated in a purple glow from the blacklight. The fires then spread their flames outward to surround Zoo, Naruto, and Hinata in a circle, then spread inward lighting along the lines to form numerous complicated glyphs. These glyphs glow brighter engulfing Naruto and Hinata. Meanwhile from the spots where they fell, the fallen shinobi -enemy and ally alike- begin to glow and break out in flames matching those of the blacklight torches. The flames from their bodies reach up and shoot across the sky. They cross and combine into a massive flame overhead which then shoots down below and engulfs Naruto.

Hinata, frightened for Naruto, calls out to him. He cannot hear her. Awakened by the pain he cries out, his screams barely audible above the roar of the fire. Each time the Konoha Shinobi try to make their way into the space, they are repelled either by the fire or by Zoo's counter attacks. As the flames overhead grow bigger, they start to spread out and take shape. First a massive center, then limbs, then a tail, then a head. The head let's out a howl, which sounds eerily familiar to everyone there. A sound that incites a terror etched into their very genes- Kyubi no Kitsune.

With the Kyubi's return in progress, the Konoha Shinobi knew they had to act, but due to Zoo's continued interference, and the intense pressure from the emergence of Kyubi's chakra, they have no luck in stopping the dark ritual. But while the Shinobi have no luck, the little summon does. Hinata's Owl summon which somehow has managed to remain unseen, emerges and flies straight to Hinata. Zoo attempts to stop it with a killing blast, but at the last minute, the owl turns. With it's turn a blast of chakra flies out from its wing tips, which redirects Zoo's attack and sends it towards the chains that hold Hinata in place. With that, the little owl disappears in a puff of smoke. Hinata bursts forth from the cloud, Byakugan activated, and launches a flying palm attack towards Zoo, who deflects it, and disappears with a flicker technique.

Kyubi swings one of the tails and scatters the Shinobi, it attempts to lunge for Hinata, but she is pulled out of the way by Sasuke. The rest of the group concentrate their attack on Kyubi as a means to distract it, allowing Sasuke to fully remove Hinata from danger. Kyubi taunts all of them, explaining that they're only alive because he's not fully resurrected yet. Once the ceremony is complete, Naruto will be gone and only the it- Kyubi no Kitsune- will remain. What's more, only half of his intended ceremony is complete.

Kyubi uses it's own paws and chakra to perform a summoning jutsu. Hovering above them all illuminated by the blacklight is a bell of black silver. He gives it a strike with the with the four tails he has grown thus far, and the bell begins to glow. It soon matches the the color of the blacklight and shoots out to the rest of the assembled Shinobi. Despite their attempts to dodge the light, the rays merely bend in a supernatural manner and ensnare them. Kyubi laughs evilly, explainin that as Naruto's life-force is fueling Kyubi's return, their life-forces are meant for the coming of his new bride... the young Hinata.

The light forces the shinobi into positions surrounding Hinata, and she herself is placed in the very center of their ring. New lights shoot out from each of them and hit Hinata, who cries out in pain, feeling the chakra, and the lives of her friends being forced into her. Kyubi laughs in his victory, celebrating his rebirth, and his revenge, and the coming of a race of fox-demons. Zoo walks smiles at all that is happening, and walks non chalantly into the center of the circle. He then says,

"I hate to say this Grandfather... but your victory... is gonna be short-lived!"

Before Kyubi can react, Zoo presses something in the center and new glyphs instantaneously pop up, superimposing themselves on the ones previously made. With that. The bell disappears, and the ninja are all unceremoniously dropped. Left in a weakened state, none of them can move. None even know how many of them are still alive. But as they watch they the energy of an eight tailed fox being drained away by Zoo, who is already transforming into a monstrous black fox. This was HIS plan. He was more than some demon-kin. More than a ninja. He knew he himself was a demon, and it was time for him to ascend to his rightful place. One with more hatred than anyone else could possibly imagine- with hatred as the very core of its being. The new fox demon. Kyubi attempts to kill Zoo, but he is already weakened.

Zoo then looks to Hinata now walking towards him. He sarcastically greets her, asking what she wants and derisively referring to her as "Grandmother." She looks up at him, with two slight whisker marks formed on her cheeks. "Am I your Grandmother..." she asks. "If so, then it is only right that I should punish such a naughty Grandson!" She then performs the summoning technique and calls forth the leader of the Owl summons who swoops in and launches its sharp talons at Zoo. Zoo howls in pain, unable to dodge and pinned by the owl, as it rears its talons and attacks with its beak.

Zoo miscalculated. When he got rid of the bell, he freed Hinata, and Hinata was in posession of a "monstrous" amount of Chakra because of it. She uses flying Jyuken techniques to replace the chakra taken from her friends, and gives a final blast to free Naruto from his bonds. She then uses another summoning technique to call forth the "Owl Wardens." Several stern-looking owl summons fly from the summon-smoke, and carry with them large chains. No sooner does the leader of the owls fly away from Zoo, then the Wardens wrap the chains around him and lock him up tight, without room to move. With the enemy secured, the owls then fly towards the still downed shinobi, and carry them up into the sky. The leader of the owls gingerly takes Naruto in her talons, and when that is done, Hinata using this new-found strength pulls Zoo to the center of the ritual site. She then stares at Zoo and Kyubi. Her eyes begin to glow with visible chakra and her anger is palpable.

"How dare you..." she says.

"How dare you use me..." her body glows.

"How dare you use my friends..." She takes up a stance.

"How dare you use MY NARUTO!" She brings down a strike on Zou's fox head. It pierces his skull and splatters his brains around the area. In the next moment the areas lights up and the ground begins to shake. As a large swirl of chakra erupts in a massive kaiten. It envelopes the entire area. When the light dies down the site is destroyed. Hinata stands in the center of a crater, now returned to normal. Her eyes the same as they were, and the whisker-marks gone. She looks at kyubi, who remains as a creature of chakra. Kyubi looks at her, his fox eye the only clear sign of what he is that remains.

The Blood Eclipse will end soon. The Temple of Resurrection is destroyed. I can't return anymore...

"That's correct." Hinata replies. "The only way for you to live now... is through Naruto-kun."

And his successor... which means there's at least one more chance...

That was the last thought of Kyubi, before his eye dissolved away.

With that, Hinata's attention is drawn back to Naruto. The first thing she notices is that he is still unconscious. The second thing she notices, is that he isn't breathing.

Naruto was adrift. Floating in a black nothingness, that seemed to stretch out into forever. Naruto lost the sense of up or down, left or right, here or there... at times he could barely hold on to his sense of self. It would have been difficult for Naruto to put it into words, but he felt as though the difference between being Naruto, and being... well, nothing, was a razor-thin margin.

It was difficult, holding on to himself. He could feel something creeping in, something in the blackness. If he didn't concentrate he would slowly begin to lose himself, at times he would look at his feet, or his hands at find it missing, only to close his eyes and reopen them with the missing piece back in place as it was... but the effort was painful... and the nothingness eased it away...

With Naruto fading fast, Sakura and Ino administer triage. Ino forces him to breathe and keep his heart beting with the use of CPR. Sakura makes use of healing chakra to keep him grounded and analyze any damage, aided by Hinata's keen vision. But Naruto has no lethal injuries, and he is not suffering from chakra depletion. Something else is going on... but what that is no one can guess.

They are doing everything they can, but nothing works. Desperate, Hinata kneelse beside Naruto and leans down. She brings as her self as close to him as possible, lips practically touching his ear. She quietly weeps and whispers to him, inaudible to the rest of the group. Her quiet words are a plea. She begs him to live.

Naruto sits in the darkness. His arms are gone. His legs are disappearing. He is losing to the darkness, and can barely hold himself together. He is slowly fading away... but a light slowly emerges from the darkness. At first he is blinded, but as his eyes slowly begin to adjust. It seems dazzling. Suddenly he as a sense of direction. He floats a little closer towards it. He hears Hinata's voice, and floats faster in the direction of the light, feeling warmth.

"Come back, Naruto-kun."

He hears hinata louder each time, regaining parts of himself. He flies to the light, blinded once again. When he reopens them he finds himself staring up into Hinata's eyes.

"Hello..." he says weekly.

"Naruto!" She cries out!

"Hinata..." he whispers. "You're so warm."

She smiles down at him, blushing.

Two years pass. Naruto and Hinata's wedding night (Gratuitous sex scene)

Roughly 8 years later. A young boy with blonde hair stands by a lake, seeing how far he can skip stones. Nearby, Naruto and Hinata are lying together atop a picnic blanket. Hinata has a baby in her arms, and there they observe the young man, enjoying the warm afternoon sun.

The End.