SC: (ninja! poof) Hey all. Look, I'm updating this again! After, like, a year of not updating. Yeah… sorry about that. I lost my passion for Naruto for a while. But, after watching about eight hours of it straight, and seeing Gaara get his ass kicked, I decided to give it another go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, but I don't.

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Chapter 15

Killing what you can't hurt

'Why does it seem that I always get the dangerous missions?' Chouji asked himself as he worked his way around the barrier. 'And with no chips too… oh well. I'll just buy some more when I get back to Konoha. If I get back.' He added as an afterthought. 'Ooh, morbid.' He chided himself. 'Good thing Ino isn't here or she'd smack me.'

But thinking about Ino inevitably led Chouji to thinking of Shikamaru and the rest of his friends. He shook it off as he saw the first corner of the barrier, where Iruka had no doubt passed moments earlier. Stopping, he examined the scroll that had been placed to form the corner. Glancing past it, he saw a good-sized rock sitting just behind a pile of wood. 'Alright, easy. Just use a substitution jutsu and… um…' Chouji's thoughts were very rudely interrupted by the ground underneath him beginning to quake.

"This can't be good." He whispered, stepping back. An ear splitting crack sounded through the forest, scattering whatever birds there were in the trees, as three human-esque shaped rocks rose from the ground. "Oh boy."

The rock… things- could they be called people?- turned toward Chouji, who wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Okay, that's gross." He said, disgusted. In the middle of each of the things "faces" were a large, black eye with only a red pupil to cut through the inky color. "You wanna fight? Alright, let's go! Baika-no-jutsu! The art of expansion!"

The earth imploded under the Akimichi's feet as he grew at least three times his regular height. Plucking up the three rock people, Chouji chuckled as he juggled them as easily as one would a ball. 'And Ino said that I couldn't juggle.' He thought as he caught all three in one hand and crushed them between his palms.

Releasing the jutsu, Chouji shrunk back down to his normal size and quickly completed his substitution jutsu. Peering out from behind the pile of wood, he quickly ran over to the scroll and pulled a smaller one out of one of his vest pockets. Unfurling it and slapping it on to the larger scroll's side- it stuck like glue- he used a substitution jutsu with the same rock as before just before the scroll exploded into several thousand fluttering bits of charred paper.

But the wall of fire stayed standing. 'The others must not have destroyed theirs yet.' Chouji thought to himself. 'If they got attacked… I'd better go find them.' He ran off in the direction Naruto had continued in.

--

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" The cry echoed throughout the landscape, along with the hundred or so 'ninja! poof's that followed it. The golems had no chance of survival against Naruto's army of shadow clones, and were so squished beneath their sheer numbers.

Naruto allowed himself a triumphant grin (it was also somewhat smug; he'd gotten it from Sasuke) before turning back to the task at hand. Several hand signs later, the scroll was sitting in front of him, a log in its place. Pulling out a kunai, he proceeded to shred the paper from its tightly rolled cylinder until it appeared to be nothing more than several thousand ink stained pieces of confetti.

"Subtle." Chouji commented, stepping out into the open. Naruto looked over at him, then back at the mess lying at his feet, before grinning sheepishly at the other Jonin.

"Gets the job done." He said with a shrug. There was an explosion off in the forest. "That's the direction Kakashi and Iruka-sensei went in!" The blonde yelped, running off. Chouji let out a grumble before taking off after him.

"Kakashi-sensei! There was an explosion are you…" Naruto stopped, seeing his two teachers sitting on a formidable pile of motionless golems who had apparently been turned into so much mulch by the two men.

Kakashi looked up. "Oh, Naruto, Chouji. What took you two so long?"

Iruka laughed. "Yeah, we've been waiting on you two." Naruto glared at his former teachers, grumbling under his breath.

But the two Jonin sobered up as they leapt off the pile. "The barrier's down now, so we'd better hurry inside. Whatever Byakuya and Tsuki are holding the kids for, it can't be good, and we need to get them out of there, fast." Kakashi said, before disappearing with a burst of chakra-powered speed. The other three followed, racing across the hard-packed earth with apparent ease.

--

Tsuki's eyes snapped open as a startled gasp escaped her lips. Scrambling up, she ran into the hut and into the back room, throwing the trapdoor open with a bang. She practically slid down the stairs, her feet slipping from the edges and sending her vaulting forward another few steps before she regained her balance and continued downward. "Byakuya!" She cried, running into the room. "The barrier's been broken- the shinobi are here!"

Byakuya, who was standing in the center of the room, in the middle of the six coffins, glanced at her over his shoulder. "Are they now?" He asked with a strange air of indifference that didn't suit someone who was just told that ANBU level shinobi were coming after him.

Tsuki seemed to agree with the previous statement, as her abashed expression clearly showed her thoughts about his irrational calmness. "Byakuya, they're almost HERE. We're going to be killed!"

Byakuya merely laughed, throwing his head back at the apparent hilarity of her words. "Tsuki, Tsuki… you worry too much." He half-scolded as he turned around. On his pale but surprisingly muscled chest were several symbols painted in what appeared to be blood. "The ceremony's almost finished. Soon, I'll have a new body and more than enough power to get us out of this hellhole." He told her with a sinister smirk, stepping to the side. This small action revealed Hari, strung up against the wall with chains, the symbols painted on his chest mirroring the ones on Byakuya's.

Tsuki's eyes lit up. "Really? We'll finally be able to get out of here and take revenge on that idiotic village?"

Byakuya smirked and nodded. "Yes, all that and more, once we find you a body with as much power as this one. Now, come here and give me a kiss." Tsuki complied, stepping over the ornate circle on the floor to press her lips against Byakuya's, resting a hand on his shoulder, careful not to disturb the symbols on his chest.

"Distract them for just a little longer." He said as she began to ascend the staircase. "I'll join you once I'm done here."

Tsuki nodded, then seemingly disappeared up the stairs. Byakuya turned back to the unconscious Hari. "Just one last thing…" He muttered, pulling a kunai out of the pouch on his waist. Pressing his finger against the tip, a drop of blood trickled down the steel. Placing the kunai back in the pouch, he placed his finger against Hari's forehead and made a quick, clean stroke across it, leaving a crimson streak behind.

Byakuya appraised his work carefully, his eyes trailing over the teenager's body for a few minutes before, apparently satisfied, he stepped back into the circle. Squeezing his injured digit, three drops of blood traveled from the wound to the floor, making a nearly silent 'plip' sound. Steam began to rise from the dusty floor in thick, red waves. The inner edges of the circle began to steam and hiss, filling the chamber with the red stuff and bringing visibility down to nil.

Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the smoke vanished, revealing that Byakuya had disappeared with it. Against the wall, Hari stirred, his eyes fluttering for a moment before snapping open. A swirl of black disappeared into the middle of the lavender-white eyes as the muscles in his arm tensed and snapped the chains holding them to the wall. "Perfect." He laughed, flexing his fingers. Walking over to the center of the circle, he picked up the bare hitai-ate that laid on the floor and tied it over his forehead.

--

"Give it up, Tsuki!" Kakashi ordered, a kunai poised and ready to be thrown in his hand. "You're almost out of chakra- just surrender peacefully."

Tsuki glared at him, panting tiredly. Cuts and bruises now marred her arms and face, and her kimono was severely ripped in several places, revealing the black bra she was wearing beneath it. "No…"

"Your choice." Naruto growled, throwing the shuriken between his knuckles. Tsuki dove to the ground, wincing as they sliced her back. However, she was met with the dull end of a kunai slamming into her forehead, knocking her unconscious.

"Cut it a little close there, didn't you?" A familiar figure asked Naruto, stepping into the open door of the hut, examining the shuriken embedded in the wall.

"Hari!" Iruka exclaimed.

"You're alright?" Chouji asked, not able to hide his own grin.

"Yeah." He shrugged.

Naruto ran over, clapping his hands on the younger shinobi's shoulders. "Man, are your parents gonna be happy to see-"

The blonde cut off with a pained, choking noise as Hari's fingers blocked the chakra points in his entire torso with little more than a blur. A malicious grin spread over his face as Naruto fell to the dirt at his feet, struggling to breathe. "Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm not Hari? My bad." He kicked the Jonin for emphasis.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Byakuya!"

"Hari" grinned, spreading his arms wide. "In the flesh. Granted, it isn't mine, but it'll work." He stepped over Naruto, smirking. "On my last trip to the mainland, I stumbled across the notes of a rogue shinobi of Konohagakure named Orochimaru. His jutsu for body switching was… intriguing, but crude. I based my own technique off of those notes, refined them, and well… you can obviously see the results."

Iruka glared at him. "Where are the rest of them?"

"Hm? The rest of who?" He asked. "Oh, you mean those little annoyances that were with this one." He gestured down at Hari's body. "Unfortunately for them, I needed their energy to complete the transfer."

Iruka's eyes widened as he realized the implications of what he had just said. "No… they're not…"

"Dead." He shrugged. "Sacrifices had to be made, and unfortunately for them, their foolhardy bravery put them at the wrong place at the wrong time. All except for one… but it shouldn't take long to recover him. There's no where to run on this island."

"You stay away from him!" Chouji roared, pulling out a fistful of shuriken.

Iruka grabbed the Akimichi's arm and pulled it down. "Chouji, don't! That's still Hari's body!"

"Oh yes, don't hurt your precious student. He's still in here, just bound up tight with his friends chakra. And he'll stay there while I use his body to exact my revenge on the entire Mist Country."

"No… you… won't!" A glowing orange figure tackled Byakuya from behind.

Kakashi mentally groaned. 'Naruto's anger has gotten the best of him, and without any of his own chakra to contain it, Kyuubi must've taken over.' "Naruto, don't! You can't hurt him!"

The kitsune-possessed Jonin glanced over at Kakashi just long enough for Byakuya to force him away. He glanced down to see that his shirt had been ripped by Naruto's elongated nails, revealing the luminescent blood markings there, one of which had smeared slightly under the weight of the attack.

"This power…" He said, amazed. "Incredible…"

But below their feet, another incredible act was taking place. In one of the stone coffins circling the room, Uzumaki Menrui was stirring from a combination of her father's charka and an unknown factor. She moved her head slightly and let out a tiny moan. "Oohhh… my head… feels like I let Hiun use me as a punching bag again…" She cracked open one eye warily, then the other, and saw only black.

Her first thought was, logically, 'Oh my god, have I gone blind?' But slowly, as her eyes adjusted, she could make out the faint shadows above her, and she could feel cool stone under her back. Slowly, she raised her hands and felt around her and above her. Stone surrounded her body, trapping her in some sort of box.

This left only one problem: Menrui was claustrophobic.

Half a minute later, the coffin that had been so specifically crafted to house the young Genin had been vacated, its lid cracked to pieces on the floor. "Okay, easy…" Menrui muttered to herself, crawling over to the coffin next to her on elbows and knees. She winced at the sight of her bloody knuckles as she pulled herself up. Pressing the heels of her palm against the lid, she pushed, using whatever strength she could muster up.

Stone scraped against stone, and the lid fell to the floor. Menrui peered into the box. Kakushin was lying against the bottom, looking for all the world as though he was dead. Shaking, Menrui put a hand over his mouth. Faintly, there was a slow stream of air going in and out. She sighed in relief.

"Kakushin…" She whispered, shaking his shoulder. "Kakushin, wake up!" The pink-haired Uchiha didn't respond, though his head flopped to the side uselessly. Frowning, Menrui sent a burst of what little chakra she had left down her arm and into the Chuunin's shoulder.

His onyx eyes flickered open. "Unh… Menrui? Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, but help me get these boxes open." She said, pulling him into a sitting position.

Fifteen minutes later, the other three coffins had been opened, and the five Genin were seated around the room. "Last thing I remember, Hari was yelling for us to run for it." Kakushin muttered, pressing a hand against his temple.

"Where IS Hari?" Hiun asked, glancing around. "And Roba?"

"Roba escaped, I think." Kiseichu said. "He had one of his antitoxins with him. He managed to wake me up, but then that crazy bitch with the earth jutsus knocked me back out."

"But… that doesn't explain why Hari's missing." Kakushin reminded him. "I mean, he couldn't have just gotten up and walked away, right?"

"Maybe they killed him." Hiun smacked the back of her younger brother's head.

"Don't even say things like that!" She hissed. Then, she glanced up at the brunette sitting across from her. "Shin?"

Even though she was fully conscious, Shingetsu had yet to say a word. Instead, she sat with her knees hugged to her chest, staring at the floor near her feet. Kakushin looked down at his sister. "Shingetsu?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Don't talk to me."

Menrui reached out a hand. "Shin…" Kakushin grabbed her wrist.

"Let her be, Menrui. Let's just see if we can get out of here."

"And do what?" Kiseichu asked sarcastically. "We're all completely useless without our chakra and our weapons! Do you want us to shake sticks at them?"

"No, but we may be able to overpower them- we're shinobi."

"And so are they." Shingetsu said. "Face it, Kakushin. We're totally defenseless, and there's no way for us to take them down. The two of them took down a team of ANBU level Jonin. Alone. And our parents were at full power."

"I'm sorry, would you like us to sit here and whine all day or escape?" Menrui asked. While the argument had proceeded, she had made her way over to the table full of weapons on the other side of the room. "Cause I think I can solve the whole 'defenseless' problem."

--

"Kakashi, what are we supposed to do?" Iruka asked, wincing as a fragment of rock whizzed past his face, slicing his cheek. "We can't stop Byakuya without hurting Hari!"

"I'm still working on that." Kakashi snapped, glaring at the shinobi. Iruka drew back slightly, as a glaring Sharingan is not something that one usually wants glaring you down.

Chouji glanced over at the two. "Well, I hate to rush you, Kakashi, but can you work on it faster? Hari- er, Byakuya is wreaking havoc and his blasts are getting closer to us."

"He's toying with us." The silver-haired ANBU muttered, running a hand through his hair. "With Hari's Byakugan, he should be able to see us easily."

"Unless he doesn't know how to use it yet." Iruka reminded him. "The air is still thick with the lingering chakra of Tsuki's barrier, and he may not be able to clearly locate us yet."

Chouji peered out at the possessed Hyuuga. "Yeah, well he's getting better. Fast. We need a plan NOW. There's no time to think!"

Kakashi's eyes widened. "That's it. Byakuya thinks he's safe because he's in Hari's body. If we take away that safety, then-"

There was a loud explosion behind their makeshift barrier. "What... was that?"

Chouji peered around the rock he crouched behind, blanching as he did. "Uh, guys? We may have a bigger problem than we thought."

"Chouji, what's going on out there?"

"Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is, the kids are still alive."

Kakashi and Iruka both took a moment to register what Chouji had just said. "What's the bad news?" Iruka finally asked.

"They're going straight toward Byakuya."

--

"This place is seriously creeping me out." Kiseichu muttered as they looked around the bright, nursery-like room. A dagger was clutched in each of his hands.

Hiun's hand brushed lightly against the weapon pouch on her thigh. "We were sleeping in here. We were sleeping in here, totally out of it."

"It's better than those boxes." Menrui offered. Another weapon pouch was tied around her leg as well, as well as a dagger tucked in the waist of her jeans. "At least we were unconscious."

Kakushin nodded, then looked over at Shingetsu, who was frowning in deep concentration. "Sis? What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to activate my Sharingan, but it won't work." She muttered, opening her eyes, which were still green.

"Are you out of chakra?" Menrui asked.

Shingetsu closed her eyes again. "No... it's not that. I can feel my chakra, but it's like it's... just out of reach."

Kakushin concentrated on the centers of his eyes- the place chakra was directed to activate the Uchiha kekkei-genkai. "Mine's not working either. And Shingetsu's right; it's like the chakra is there, I just can't get to it."

Kiseichu shook his head. "Worry about this later- let's just get out of here!" He said, going over to the door and throwing it open. He paused in the doorway. "… Hari?"

Shingetsu was- not surprisingly- the first one to make it over. "What?" Her eyes locked onto the older Hyuuga, who was looking over his shoulder at the hut, his expression one of total shock and surprise.

"You're still alive…?" He murmured, his white-lavender eyes wide.

"That's not Hari." Hiun muttered.

Kiseichu turned around. "Hiun, what are you talking about? That's Hari! It has to be! Who else would it be?"

Hiun shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is that whoever it is, it's not our brother."

Shingetsu took a step back. "She's right. Something's… off about him."

"Off?" Hari laughed. "What are you talking about, Shin?"

She glared at him. "Don't call me that. Don't you dare call me that. Only Hari calls me that and gets away with it."

Hari laughed and turned around. "Oh, but you see, I am Hari now."

Menrui's eyes widened. "Oh my god."

"Is that… blood?" Hiun squeaked.

Hari looked down at his chest where Naruto had ripped his shirt. His eyes widened as he saw the smeared blood. "No… I see now. That's how you woke up…" He looked back up at them. "Well… we'll have to fix that."

"You aren't going to touch them!" Came a yell as someone tackled Hari to the ground.

"Roba!" Menrui cried, shoving past Shingetsu and Kiseichu and running out.

Roba looked back up at her. "Menrui, get back!" She stopped midway over to him.

Hari turned his head, spitting the dirt out of his mouth. "Protecting your girlfriend? That's gonna cost you." There was a burst of chakra that threw Roba back. He landed hard on the ground ten feet away.

Hari shoved himself up. "Let's see… who's next?" His eyes landed on Menrui. "Ah, there we go." He took a step forward.

"Get away from my daughter!" Naruto growled, lunging at Hari.

He stepped back out of the way, and the Kyuubi's claws tore through the rest of his shirt. "You just don't give up, do you?" He asked, pulling off the remaining tatters of cloth.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "What are those?"

"Those markings must be how Byakuya is possessing Hari. If we could just get rid of them somehow…" Chouji muttered.

Byakuya glared back over at the hiding Jonin. "That's enough out of you." He raised a hand.

All three of them let out a surprised yell as the ground underneath them opened up and swallowed them up to their waists. "I- I can't move!" Chouji grunted, pushing at the ground.

Iruka struggled against the constraint as well. "It- it's draining away… all of our chakra!"

Byakuya looked over at Naruto, who was pushing himself up. "Down boy!" He laughed as the ground curled up and over the bottom of his legs and up to his elbows.

"Dad!" Menrui shrieked, running over.

Naruto looked up at her. She was taken aback by the bright red of his eyes and the slitted, cat-like pupils, but knelt down next to him anyway. "Dad…"

Naruto looked down. "Menrui, I promise I'll explain everything when we get home, but for now you have to get out of here!"

"Nuh-uh, no way. Not until we get Hari back."

Byakuya rolled his eyes. "Oh please." He said, pulling a kunai out of the pouch at his thigh. That, however, was as far as he got as Shingetsu, Hiun, Kiseichu, and Kakushin charged him, weapons at the ready. He leapt over them, landing easily. "You're really going to try and attack me? You have no chakra- you're powerless."

"They might be," Byakuya turned to see Roba on his knees, "But I'm not! Kagemane no jutsu!"

Byakuya leapt back as Roba's shadow extended from the shadows of the trees, heading straight toward him. 'Clever little brat.' He thought, watching as the stream of black retreated back to its owner. 'He used his friends to distract me while he performed his jutsu.' He frowned. 'Even without their chakra, they're too much of a problem on my own. I need more time to get accustomed to this body. But Tsuki is still unconscious…' He shook his head and leapt over to the sleeping woman, scooping her up in his arms and leaping out of sight.

"Damn it!" Shingetsu cursed.

Kakushin put a hand on her shoulder. "He can't leave the island, Shin. We'll find him. For now, let's free Kakashi-sensei and the others."

Minutes later, all four Jonin had been freed from the rocky prisons. Naruto had even been de-Kyuubi-fied from the lack of chakra. "Thanks sweetheart." He murmured as Menrui unearthed his limbs.

"Daddy, sit down." She said, helping him to do so.

"We need a plan." Kakashi said.

"Yeah. That'll help. We're a bunch of Leaf Shinobi who have no chakra, and no way off this island." Kiseichu said.

Shingetsu glared at him. "We aren't leaving without Hari."

"Sheathe your claws, Shingetsu." Kakashi ordered. "We won't leave without him."

Shingetsu looked away awkwardly. "Now, let's get started on a plan."

--

SC: So… um… hi, everyone. Yeah, look at me, updating Child of a Shinobi again. Hopefully it'll get just as many reviews as it did when the story was out of commission. So, review please!

Ja ne
SC