Hi everyone! I would like thank EVERYONE who continues to read, review, and support my story! It means alot to me! I would also like to thank the newcomers to the story as well! Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, story and author alerts! ^_^
I gotta give a special thank you to AnauchihaD on DeviantART for bringing my first OC Nariko to life with her commission and also for giving me the strength to wanna make my story better. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much, Anahis. ^_^
Okay, enough with my mushy stuff! Here is chapter 9!
CHAPTER 9:
Uchiha Lineage!
Nariko continues on her journey through the trees to Konoha Forest. Nariko was now thinking over the decision that she had made on her own. Was she too careless and selfish to think how the others would feel about her decision? She was starting to feel somewhat guilty for leaving them behind like that. She has done some pretty reckless things before, but this one was really getting to her...
'Naruto, Sakura-chan, Bijin-baachan, please forgive me...'
In the air, she smells something vaguely burning. It smells like smoke but it had a familiar scent to it. It smelled like..Nariko gasps and she saw in front of her what was the cause of that smell. It was a flying kunai with a paper bomb attached to it. Her eyes widen and it explodes on contact, knocking her down to the ground from its explosive force. Just before she hits the ground, she turns her body around, landing of her hands and landing back on her feet. Nariko wipes her eyes from the smoke that's temporarily blinding her sight.
"Damn it...! I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even see that coming..." She whined angrily. Usually, she was SO much sharper than this when detecting bombs and traps of the like.
"Look at what we've have here..." A voice chided faintly in the distance.
Thinking quickly, Nariko pulls out the kunai knife she had somehow obtained from the earlier explosion and brought it up to her chest as her left hand rested on the back of her right hand, gripping the kunai with all her might. Carefully, she scans the area for any type of chakra signature but she found none. Instead the voice spoke to her again.
"I never thought I would have to fight you so soon..." It said again with a hint of amusement. "This is gonna be fun..."
Nariko looked around her again she still didn't see anyone in the entire area. She realized the voice was that of a man and she started ranting off at him.
"You bastard! You coward! You come out here and fight me like a man!" Nariko yelled, not letting up on scanning her surroundings...
The one thing Nariko couldn't stand about a man is when they thought they were better than anyone. Especially towards women and young girls. It was just something about it that always made her blood boil. She couldn't stand sexist people. Especially if that person was a man and he discriminate towards women.
'Is he toying with me...?' Nariko thought.
Then, she felt radiating heat, intense heat that gradually increased the closer it got to her. She turns around and she sees a swirling flame column coming towards her direction.
The man's voice yells, "Katon: Boushikadou!" [火遁:紡績渦(Fire Release: Spinning Vortex)]
Nariko sees the attack coming towards her but she weighs her options on how to avoid it. Her first option was to use a technique to evade it and her second option was just to simply dodge it. But, if she were to dodge it, the trees in the forest would easily catch on fire, instantly starting a forest fire. There was only one technique she could use that would instantly cancel out the attack...
She places her hand on top of her necklace and shouts, "Chakura Shouheki!" [チャクラ難関 (Chakra Barrier)]
A transparent, circular barrier surrounds her and the second the fire touched, the fire quickly vanished. When it felt safe again, Nariko lowers the barrier around her. From the distance, she could hear faint clapping and she was greeted by a man with a silver hooded cloak on, covering his features...
"I expected nothing less..." The man said walking towards her.
Nariko's anger increased ten fold after she noticed the cloak that he was wearing. "You are...!"
Naruto was at his apartment, gearing up for his mission to help Nariko. He was in no shape to fight the enemy in his casual clothes, he so went back home to change into his proper clothes. He stocked up on weapons and miniature scrolls, sharpen his kunai knife before putting it inside his Hidden Kunai Mechanism. He zipped up his jacket and put on his headband and with a tight grip, tighten the knot around it. He was about to leave until he noticed the picture that had kept for years sitting on the nightstand. The old team picture of Team 7 when they were genin. He glanced over to look at Sasuke with that annoyed look on his face.
'He never did like taking pictures...The only time he did smile is when he made me feel like an idiot.' Naruto traced out Sasuke's face with his index finger. 'Sasuke...'
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Naruto grabs his backpack and rushes out of his apartment after locking up of course. Fifteen minutes later, Naruto reached the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village and he was greeted by Izumo and Kotetsu.
"Naruto-kun, how are you?" Izumo greeted happily. "Are you going on another mission, today?"
Naruto nodded. "Yep!"
Kotetsu sighs from Naruto's enthusiam, "You go on missions like crazy. Don't you ever get tired?" he asked.
"Me? No way! I can't stop doing missions! I have keep getting stronger and stronger because I'm gonna be the Hokage someday!" Naruto declares with a fist in the air.
Kotetsu and Izumo smile at him. 'Same old Naruto...' they thought as they open the gates for the blond shinobi. Naruto starts to walk towards the gates and he was almost out until-
"Naruto!" A voiced called out to him and he turned around to see three familiar faces: Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru, and Hinata.
"Sakura-chan, Kiba, Hinata, what are you doing here?" He asked. He hoped they weren't there to try and stop him because he will NOT have that.
"What kind of greeting is that?" Kiba yelled angrily. "We're here to help you, man!"
"Sakura-san told us about what was happening and she asked us to come with her to help you." Hinata said.
Naruto just stood and looked at Hinata with wide eyes the size of saucers. "Hinata...you don't stutter anymore..." He exclaimed.
Ever since Hinata started dating Kiba, she grew stronger and a little braver, henceforth causing her not to stutter anymore whenever she was around Naruto. Naruto was somewhat relieved for that because he always found it so strange when she did it.
Naruto was happy because Sakura didn't abandon him after all. "Sakura-chan, is this true?"
Sakura gave him a stern nod. "That's right, Naruto. If you want to help Nariko, then you're need all the help you can get...And friends always help each other out."
"All right, then! Let's go save Nariko-san from the 'Bakudai'!" Kiba declared.
"And bring back Miyuki-san as well." Hinata stated.
Naruto's expression changed to a sunny smile. "You guys...you guys are the greatest!"
Sakura chuckles, "Well, talking isn't gonna get us anywhere. Let's go!"
The others agreed quickly and with Naruto leading them, the four of them headed out the gates before Izumo and Kotetsu went back to their posts.
"Kids these days..." Izumo said.
"When you say it like that, you sound like an old man." Kotetsu joked.
"Shut up."
Naruto, Sakura, Kiba, and Hinata had been traveling the forest for about an hour now and the gates of Konoha were no longer visible to them, which meant they were getting getting closer to their destination.
"You guys, we're almost at Konoha Forest." Sakura announced.
"All right!" Naruto said excited. He has been wanting to fight for a while now and he'll finally get the chance to just let loose. "Kiba, can you track down Nariko's scent?"
Kiba laughs, "No problem!" he said as he began to sniff around the area for her signature chakra scent.
'Nariko, why did you have to go off on your own like that?' Naruto thought and he laughed because she reminds him of himself whenever things get out of hand or when he flies off the handle. 'I can't really blame her for it...'
"Naruto, the chakra scent is too faint. I can't pick up her scent." Kiba said disappointed and Akamaru whined. "I guessed Akamaru can't pick it up, either."
Naruto grew silent from Kiba's answer. Knowing this, Sakura decides to take charge of the situation. "Hinata, how much farther do we have to go and what is the perimeter of Konoha Forest?" she asked.
"Hmm..." Hinata did the necessary hand signs and shouts, "Byakugan!"
Hinata focused her chakra and her sight pierces through the countless trees to decipher how far they would really have to go. After a while, Hinata finished up gathering up the coordinates of the terrain.
"Sakura-san, Konoha Forest isn't too far from here...We should be passing the borderline soon and the perimeter is about 3 kilometers." Hinata explained, dispelling her Byakugan.
"The area is that big? That's a ways off but we have no time to waste!" Sakura said. "I've been wanting to fight, too."
"Now, you're talking my language, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said excited again. "Let's go kick some 'Bakudai' ass!"
Sakura's smile vanished. 'But the one person I really want to fight is...Sasuke-kun...'
Although she was fairly glad to be able to fight after her second training journey with Tsunade, She really wanted to take a crack at Sasuke for hurting Naruto...She didn't know when it would happen but she knows if it ever did happen, she wasn't gonna hold back just because she used to love him. She would make him pay with every fiber of her being.
With that said in mind, the gang continues through the forest in silence except for Naruto's loud rambling about sending the 'Bakudai' to hell and back.
Nariko regains her composure and examines the man that was approaching her. "The platinum silver cloaks, the black jointed circles, there's no mistake...! You're one of the 'Bakudai'!"
"If it isn't the Sharingan princess herself, Nariko Uchiha." The man chuckles at Nariko's accusation. "I am surprised you know who I am..."
"You've come here to kill Naruto and take his Jinchuuriki's element power!" Nariko stood up from her position and began to focus her chakra. "Since, you weren't able to take it in our time, your leader has ordered you to take it from this time. Am I right?"
"Hmph...You're pretty smart, Sharingan princess." The man said. "In fact, your even smarter than your old man..."
Nariko clenches her fists in anger to the point that they were turning white. "How dare you...!"
"I commend you, Sharingan princess. Your perception...is indeed impressive. Nothing personal brat, but you're in the way! If you don't want to die, then I suggest you leave." The man threatened.
"You got the wrong one if you think I would back down from the likes of you..." Nariko declared. "I'm gonna put a stop to you right now!"
"Hmph. You have your dad's spunk but do you have his strength?" The man taunted.
Nariko closes her eyes and focus all of her chakra into her mind, "You people don't give a damn about peace. All you care about is death, pain and destruction..." when she opens her eyes, they were no longer her pretty blue coal ones, her eyes were the color of blood. She had activated her Sharingan. Her eyes has fully matured, showing the three tomoes in each one as proof of mastering the Doujutsu.
"They call me 'Roaring Thunder' for a reason. I will show you why they call me that..."
Nariko charges towards the man head on and the man just stands there, not moving or even flinching...
* * * CHAPTER PREVIEW* * *
"Sasuke, you go after Naruto and we'll take care of the 'Bakudai.'" Karin said
"What do you think we've doing for the past 3½ months?" Suigetsu asked. "Certainly not sitting around picking daisies."
"Let us take care of things for a change." Juugo suggested.
"What? No! I can't let you guys do that!" Sasuke protest.
"We'll be fine, Sasuke. Just have faith in us..." Karin stated.
The next chapter of Changing Fate:
The Promise Of Team Hawk
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