Chapter 5
It was late at night as the villagers of Konoha quietly crept towards the Kinzou's Smithe in an attempt to vandalize it. About five of them had gone, which would have normally not drawn so much attention, had their target actually been human.
"So, ye think we're monsters aye?" a thick, booming voice said from behind them.
The group turned around to see him, Kenshin Kinzou, head of the Kinzou clan and pretty much the largest man they had ever seen, standing behind them holding one of his huge mallets.
"So, 'hoo's gonna be first?" he asked with a slight almost foreign accent to him.
"There's more of us beast!" Said the first winner of the 'Darwin Awards' and attacked.
"A'roght den, ye'll be first!"
With that Kenshin swung his mallet like it was a baseball bat, hitting the man in his chest and sending him flying right out the shop. The other four men attacked in an attempt to overpower the much larger and more muscular man, which looked more like a group of kindergartners trying to take down their teacher. Kenshin was actually enjoying playing with these vandals, until TenTen arrived, a large metal club in her hands, and swatted the would-be vandals out of the shop. She then slammed it onto her father's head.
"KEEP IT QUIET DAD! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" She roared at him.
"TenTen, sweetie... whot... ave I tol' ye 'bout de club?" He said, lying on the ground while she stood over him with her giant iron club in hand.
Ignoring his comment, she stared at him. "Who were those jerks and why were they here?" she asked as he started to get off the ground. Or do I have to guess?
"Why do ye think?" He said, rubbing his head slightly.
"Ooo, when I git my hands on that damned council!" she growled.
"Now, let's not worry 'bout that now." He said.
Just then, both father and daughter turned their heads, hearing a loud commotion from the Takeuchi compound.
"Come on!" she shouted, and both of them took off towards the trouble.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Takeuchi Compound)
Taicho and Musaka were slicing villagers and ROOT members left and right along with the Yamanakas.
"Do not take this the wrong way, but we are capable of dealing with these bigots ourselves!" Musaka said as he sliced down another ROOT ninja.
"I don't doubt!" Ino growled as she kicked down another villager armed with a scythe.
"I didn't think you would have helped us." Taicho said to the Yamanaka clan head, slicing down two more villagers with blazing quickness.
"Would you have done any less?" Inoichi asked, stabbing another ROOT member through the neck.
"I would not." the sexy clan head said as she prepared for another attack.
Just then, a pair of humanoid bats screeched sharply as they flew down and landed right next to the ensuing battle. The smaller of the two bat creatures landed in front of Taicho and Inoichi, while the larger of the two landed between Ino and Musaka. Both of the Takeuchis looked over to them and saw a strange pixie cut which gave one of them away. The smaller bat creature, actually one Jun Kintobori.
'The Kintoboris are bats?' Taicho thought, gutting another ROOT member who tried to stab at her.
Jun and her mother took in a deep breath before letting loose with a shrilling, piercing scream that blasted the entire area with a high-pitched glass shattering sound that caused every single one of the ROOT and village people to convulse, scream and fall dead away as they started to bleed out of their ears and noses.
The six Zoanthropes, actually five and one human ninja, breathed easier now that the fight was over, only to turn their attention to a hawk that flew in and deformed right before them, while a large man with a mallet came charging along the ground.
It was Kenshin and TenTen.
"We heard the commotion over here. What's going on?" TenTen asked.
"Oh nothing." Inoichi said. "Just playing with some ROOT and local villagers."
"Are ye a'roght Taicho?" the large man asked.
"Hai, I am alright Kenshin-kun." She said, the group turning back to the bat creatures.
Jun and her mom, Maya, deformed back to human. Jun was in a green mini dress, ivory colored stockings and sandal boots. Her mom was dressed in a jounin's vest, leg tights, sandal boots and a black sash around her waist.
"I didn't know the Kintobori Clan were bats." Taicho said to the woman.
"It wouldn't be much of a secret if you did know." Maya said. "But when we heard you were being attacked, we knew we had to help you."
"You too, huh?" TenTen said.
"What do you mean?" Inoichi asked.
"Pack of flamin vandels tried an' burn our Smithe shop doon. We gav em what fer." Kenshin said.
"This is getting ridiculous! We have to do something about this!" Inoichi hissed.
"If I may make a suggestion." Taicho said.
"Yes?" the Yamanaka leader asked.
"We need to call a meeting. A big meeting."
"Indeed." Maya said while the rest of the group nodded.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Kingdom of Zoanthropes)
It was the next morning as Naruto arrived at the Panther Clan's fortress. The main gates were open and several guards were already patrolling the grounds. One of them approached Naruto as he arrived at the front gate. It was Azure.
"Hello young fox." She said, "How I can I help you this morning?"
"I came to see Hinata-chan and Hikaru-san." he said.
She nodded at this. "Follow me. I will lead you to her."
Azure lead Naruto through the fortress to where Hikaru's room was. As they entered, Azure asked Naruto to wait in the main parlor while she went to inform Hinata.
However, Hinata had sensed Naruto's arrival and in the darkness of the dimly-lit room, a panthress was slowly and silently moving around the blond fox boy.
The panther stalks her prey. Hinata thought as she moved behind the chairs and couches, staring at Naruto.
Naruto looked around, sensing another presence and turned to where Hinata was.
"Hina-chan?" he asked, feeling a familiar presence.
He could sense me? Of course he could. He was always a better ninja than I was. She thought.
She smiled as she made herself known to him. "Good morning Naruto-kun." She said, leaping out from behind a large couch, currently in her panther form with only a pair of biker shorts and black shirt around her athletic body.
"Hina-chan, I have an idea that could help your mom," he said. "Would you allow me to at least try it?"
"If it is to help my mother then yes, please help her." She said, and then lead Naruto to her mothers bedroom.
However, unbeknownst to either of them, Hikaru was awake, and aware.
"Greetings, young fox." Hikaru said from a large couch that she had been resting on for a while. Naruto bowed to the still pale, rail-thin and fragile-looking woman. "I hear that you have come to help me. Please tell me what is it you think you can do for me?" Hikaru asked, curious as to what Naruto was planning.
"Um well, Prince Cronos gave me all the scrolls and books he had on Golden Foxes, which weren't many, and after reading up on what I am, I learned that my kind is capable of healing the injuries of others. I've read and memorized the techniques, but I haven't actually tried it. I wanted to help you. Well, more like, restore you, to your full health. It's kinda risky, so I won't do it without your okay."
Hikaru smiled at the boy. "You have it. But tell me, why do you wish to help me?"
Naruto let out a small sigh. "Because..... I know how important mothers are to their children. And Hinata is one of my closest friends. I want to help you both."
Even in her zoanthrope form, Hinata seemed to blush at that.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said.
Naruto bowed slightly as he moved up behind Hikaru's head. "Alright. Hina-chan I am going to need you to hold her hand." he instructed.
"Anno, what are you going to do?" She said, her clawed hand gently wrapping around her mothers.
"Well, with Kyuu-chan's help, I am going to focus my power and send it in to your mom." he said.
"Will it work?" Hikaru asked.
"It should," he said.
"Do you really want to do this, Mother?" Hinata asked.
"Yes Koneko. If I can regain my full health, I can be the mother you didn't have. I can be the way you remember me."
"But Momma..."
"I want this."
"Alright Mama."
With everyone in agreement, Naruto shifted into his Golden Fox form and carefully placed his hands on the sides of her head.
"Okay, here we go." He said as he closed his eyes and his body started to glow.
All at once, the glow of his body filtered around Hikaru's, even extending out towards Hinata. But what really happened to the, took place inside Naruto's mind.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Naruto's Mind)
Hinata and Hikaru blinked as they looked around, seeing that they were no longer inside the fortress, both now in human form, and Hikaru actually looking healthy. They looked around and found themselves inside a large granite-stone cave where a group of blond boys were packing wet clay onto a thin looking statue about twenty feet tall in height.
The boys looked like Naruto. The statue they were adding clay to, bore a strange resemblance to Hikaru.
"What is going on here? Where are we?" Hikaru asked.
"You are inside Naruto's mind." a female voice said.
Both mother and daughter turned around and saw a gorgeous red-haired woman in a green kimono standing behind them.
"Who are you?' Hinata asked.
"I am the Kyubi." she said.
"You're the.... the nine-tailed fox?" Hinata gasped.
It was then that she noticed a small cluster of wagging tails behind the woman. Nine tails in total.
"I see. And... what is going on over there?" Hikaru asked, pointing to the blond boys who were adding clay to the statue.
"That is a representation of Naruto-kun remaking your body." Kyubi explained to the woman.
Hinata looked over and saw that the thin looking statue did appear to look healthier with each new layer of clay they added to it.
Hikaru turned to Kyubi to address her.
"Kyubi-san, you have been with Naruto-kun his entire life, yes?" she asked.
"I have."
"Would you please tell me then, about his life."
"Why do you wish to know?" Kyubi gave her a confused look.
"I wish to know more about the boy my daughter favors." she said quietly, so that Hinata didn't hear them.
Kyubi gave her a sad smile as she gestured for the pair of women to follow her.
Walking to another part of the cave, they froze when they came to what looked like a massive space with hundreds of white crystals covering the walls, ceiling and floors. As they walked into the room, the crystals seemed to come to life, images of Naruto and other people (mostly of Naruto though) appeared in the crystals.
"These crystals hold the memories of Naruto-kun's life. Each one of a different encounter with other people from the village. Naruto-kun is still young, so there are only a few hundred crystals here. Be warned, some of these images are not for the faint of heart."
The Hyuga women walked around the crystal room and stared at the memories of the Golden Fox. With each new memory, Hinata felt tears coming to her eyes as Hikaru's lips turned into a sneer.
The majority of the memories were about how Naruto had been mistreated and neglected in his life.
Merchants kicked him out of their stores, and the only one who did sell Naruto anything sold him spoiled milk and moldy bread at four times the cost. Librarians giving him old or torn up manuals with outdated material for learning jutsus. There was a memory of him being kicked out of the orphanage he was living in. They saw children refusing to play with him because their parents didn't want them to. Teachers sabotaging his training teaching him the wrong techniques. And of course there were even a few memories of him being attacked and poisoned by various people of his own village, including ninja.
Yet despite it all, the Naruto they had met, the one they had known, didn't seem to bear them any ill will.
The women saw other crystals though, of Naruto's more pleasant memories involving other people. There were the memories of him in Wave Country, when he met Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari. There were the memories of himself being trained by Jiraiya the Toad Sannin. The time he met Tsunade and convinced her to become the Hokage after Sarutobi had died. (Though it was odd to interpret whether or not they were friends) There was a memory of Iruka saving his life from Mizuki, saying that he didn't hate Naruto. And there were the people at Ichiraku's ramen stand who always fed him.
"I don't understand." Hikaru said, staring at the memories. "His life has been so terrible. So lonely. How could anyone come back from this, and become the kind-hearted young man that exists?"
"Sometimes the kit even surprises me." Kyubi said. "Naruto's ability to forgive and look on the brighter side of life is one of the reasons I care so much for him. It is why I do everything I can to help him. But there are some things even I cannot do."
"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked.
"I will show you." Kyubi said as she lead the Panther clan head over to a small collection of crystals that appeared to be standing alone in the large cavern.
Inside these crystals were images of the Inuzuka and Takeuchi clan. And Naruto.
"What are these memories of?" Hikaru asked.
"They show the Inuzuka clan and the Takeuchi clan actually helping and being kind to Naruto. Though he doesn't remember them."
"He doesn't?" she asked, obviously confused. "But why?"
"These crystals represent the kit's memories. But unlike the other memories which are part of the collective, these were cut off from the others."
"They were? But how? By who?"
"I do not know by who. A special seal was placed on the kit by a group of ninja after his encounters with the clans. They couldn't wipe out the memories, but were able to suppress them. Isolate them from the majority of his memories. I know of these memories, but Naruto doesn't."
"Haven't you told him about this?" Hinata asked.
"I have. But since he doesn't remember anything about this, he started to suspect I was making it up. So until I could find a way to free these memories, I kept them to myself."
"Can these memories be freed? Restored to him?" Hikaru asked.
"Perhaps. If the seal is removed."
"Where is the seal?"
"I think it is on his back. At the base of his spine. It was used with some kind of clear paint, so it might be hard to spot." Kyubi said.
"We'll take a look at that when we leave this place." Hikaru said.
"MOMMA! MOMMA! COME QUICKLY!" Hinata suddenly shouted.
Hikaru and Kyubi raced over to the young Hyuga girl and found her crying as she stared at one of the crystals.
"What is it, Hina-chan?" Hikaru asked.
"Watch." she said, touching the crystal as Naruto's voice filled the cavern.
"I wish I could ask Hinata out. She's so cute! But.... she's a Hyuga. A princess. She'd never go out with a peasant like me. I... guess I'll have to find someone else. Someone... lower.... hey there's Sakura!" Naruto's voice exclaimed, before it died, the images showing a very young Hinata sitting in class on the other side of the classroom.
"This was back when we first started at the academy. He... he liked me! He wanted to date me! Oh, Naruto-Kun!" Hinata said, burying herself in her mothers chest and crying.
"It's alright, Hina-chan. At least now you know." Hikaru thought, stroking her daughters hair softly. I'm starting to like this boy. With the exception of his confidence, which has obviously changed since then, he's perfect for my Hinata! She grinned.
Kyubi's head turned towards the entrance of the cavern.
"He's almost finished with your recovery. We had best leave." Kyubi said.
"Yes. Of course. Come Hinata." Hikaru said as the pair left the crystal cavern.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Konoha)
The five clans sat around the large roundish table, which bore the mark of the Falcons head in the middle of it, as the Yamanaka clan head started things off.
"Alright, let's begin. I would first like to thank the Takeuchi Clan for hosting this meeting." he said to Taicho, who nodded in acceptance. "And I welcome all the other clan heads who managed to make it here." he said, indicating the other clan heads.
Around the table sat the heads of the Zoanthrope clans.
Kenshin and TenTen represented the Kinzou Clan. Jun and Maya represented the Kintobori Clan. Inoichi and Ino (the former of whom wasn't a zoanthrope) represented the Yamanaka Clan. Taicho and Musaka represented the Takeuchi Clan. And of course, Tsume and Kiba represented the Inuzuka Clan.
Tsume had been contacted last night by a falcon-summon and immediately left in order to attend this meeting. Much to Tsunade and Anko's upset, since they could guess why the clan heads were having this meeting.
"To be honest I wish the others could have made it, but..."
"Who says we didn't?" Jiraiya said, entering the large room with two other people behind him. "I apologize for being late, but I had to round up these two kids." he said, pointing to his two companions.
The group looked behind the Replacement Hokage and saw Hiashi Hyuga. This was shocking enough, but when they noticed the other person they were even more confused.
"I suppose yer gonna tell us whyin the blazing hell these two are here?" Kenshin asked.
"Simple." Jiraiya said. "Hiashi is here representing the Panther Clan, as his daughter, Hinata, is a panther Zoanthrope. As for Anko.. well, why don't you show them?"
Anko nodded as she suddenly morphed into her viper-form. The lower-half of her body was a long snake-tail while the upper half of her body was human-like but covered in scales with a rattle on the tip, her hair was now a nest of living snakes.
The group conceded the point and allowed Anko and Hiashi to join them at the conference table.
"I thought you weren't coming, sweetie." Tsume said to Anko, who sat next to the female clan head, after deforming back to human and putting on her spare pair of shorts.
"I changed my mind." Anko said. "Besides, if this is a chance to take down that goddamned council then I'm all for it."
"And where is Hinata-chan?" Taicho asked. "With all respect, should not an actual representative of the Panther clan be present at this meeting?"
"Hinata is with her mother and didn't want to leave so soon." Tsume said.
"What? You mean.... Hikaru is alive?" Maya asked as Taicho gasped. Hiashi looked impassive, but smiled lightly at hearing this.
"She is. She has a lot of catch-up to do with her daughter." the dire-wolf clan head said.
"Well, that said, we should get started." Inoichi said.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Panther Clan Fortress)
Naruto fell backwards onto the ground as he released Hikaru's head from between his claws. Hinata, now back in her human form just looked at her mother as she stood up and stretch for the first time in what seemed like a decade.
Hikaru removed her robe and walked over to a nearby full-length mirror. She gasped when she saw just what Naruto had done to her. No longer was she so skinny that she could have been mistaken for a skeleton. No, her body was now full and filled out. Her skin no longer looked like it hung off her bones, but were tight, firm and curvaceous in every sense. Everything from her toes up to her head had been restored, including muscle mass and she even had a tan. She turned around staring at her shapely derriere, her trim waist and flat stomach, her incredibly perky breasts which while not as big as Tsunade's would definitely attract attention. Her long raven-dark hair seemed to shine as she waved it around, her long shapely dancer-like legs capable of holding up her body.
"I'm.... I'm back. Oh, Kami and Kyubi, I'm back to my old self!" she smiled as she turned to find Hinata bending over Naruto's unconscious body. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"Naruto-kun used too much energy restoring your body. He's unconscious." Hinata said as she stroke his hair softly.
Hikaru smiled. "Simply amazing this boy is." she said, then remembered something. "Hinata, help me turn him over."
Confused, Hinata nevertheless did as her mother instructed and pulled his shirt up. The pair stared at Naruto's back and gasped when they saw what looked like a small seal upon the small of his back. It was almost transparent, but they could see it.
"So, there was a seal suppressing his memories. Strange that it wasn't up in the back of his head. Still..."
Hikaru summoned Tsunade, Kushina and her most capable medics to come and examine the boy. When they arrived, the two women were naturally shocked to see Hikaru had made such an amazing recovery. But when they saw the seal upon his back, they grew angry. Tsunade most of all because she recognized the handiwork.
Jiraiya! I recognize the pattern, but.... wait a minute! This doesn't look quite right. It's almost like... no. That perverted dope wouldn't have taught anyone else to make seals, would he? This looks like Jiraiya's signature, his style, but almost amateurish. As if....... oh, he better not have taught one of those ninja bastards how to make seals! I'll kill him, and then the person he taught! Tsunade thought with a fierce growl, almost shifting into her cougar form.
After Tsunade had helped to remove the seal from Naruto's back, his mother and Tsunade helped carry the boy to Hinata's room where he would be more comfortable.
Once he was laid down, Hinata approached Kushina.
"Kushina-sama?" Hinata asked.
"Yes, Hinata?" the red-haired woman asked.
"I... I was wondering....if you would not mind.... I would.... I would like...." she said nervously.
"You would like what, sweetie?" she asked, as Hikaru interrupted.
"What my daughter is trying to say, Kushina, is that she wants your permission to date your son." Hikaru stated.
"Oh." Kushina gasped slightly. She gently touched Hinata's chin with her hand and raised her face up to meet hers. "Do you really care for my son that much?"
"Y-Yes." Hinata said, a tear almost forming in her eye. "I have cared for him since the academy. I have watched him from afar and want to be with him. More than anything else."
Kushina smiled as she saw the sincerity in the girls pale, lavender eyes.
"I believe you, Hinata. You have my permission, and my blessing. He is my son, so naturally I ask that you take care of him when I am not around. Can you do that, Hina-chan?"
"Yes! I promise!" she said with a happy smile.
The older woman smiled at the girl before wrapping her up in a warm hug.
This rather tender moment was broken when Tsunade coughed.
"If you'll pardon me. I have a suggestion." she said, the group of women looking at her questioningly for a few moments. "Since he's asleep, why not have Hinata curl up in bed next to him?"
At hearing this suggestion, Hinata glowed a bright red as everyone just stared at her.
"What? Why?" Hinata gasped.
"Because. Naruto's a little on the dense side. If you want to make sure there is no misunderstandings about your feelings for him, you have to be direct. And there is nothing more direct than cuddling next to the man you care for while in bed." Tsunade said. "Plus, he's sure to freak out when he finds both of you like that when he wakes up." she said with a smirk.
"You're evil, you know that, auntie?" Kushina said with a smile.
"I learn from the best." she said, meaning Jiraiya.
"Alright, alright." Hikaru said. "Hinata, strip." she ordered.
"What? Mother?" Hinata gasped, clutching her clothes.
"Trust me, sweetie. Naruto's a fine catch, so you had best make your claim on him now before some other Zoanthrope tries to snatch him from you." she said.
Still feeling the heat flow through her body, the young Hyuga girl did as her mother ordered.
TBC
What Will Naruto's Reaction To This Be? Find Out In the Next Chapter.