Chapter 5:
Hinata shivered. Here she was, face to face with an enemy ninja with Naruto. Said blonde Genin growled. "What do you want!?"
The man laughed. "Why, I want you Naruto. I want you." Naruto blanched slightly.
"Wha!" he asked incredulously. The ninja smirked.
"Well, I'm a bit disappointed. I knew the pink girl was weak, but you need a female to save you? Pathetic really."
The blonde nin watched as Hinata visibly flinched. The man smirked once again, turning his 'gaze' towards the Hyuga heiress. "And you. I have heard much of you. The pathetic eldest daughter of a weak clan, whose sister can even beat her."
Hinata's mouth fell open, how did he-
"Stop!" Naruto yelled, rushing forward with his fist drawn back. As he sprinted, the mysterious nin on the surface of the water kept his face pretty impassive. A few feet away from the nin, Naruto leapt upwards, and came falling back down. As he went to land his fist, the nin reached upwards and grabbed his wrist, with one hand, and with the other thrust his hand upwards, Naruto felt the air leave his lungs. The nin withdrew his hand and thrust it upwards again. The blonde let out a cry of pain as he fell into the air and landed with a splash into the water.
"Naruto!" Hinata called out weakly. The nin turned his gaze to her.
"While you may be pathetic, I think I shall let you know my name. I'm Joukei."
Joukei slowly sauntered forward, making Hinata recoil slightly.
Joukei chuckled before racing forward, a kunai now in hand. Hinata gasped, shakily raising a kunai of her own to block the attack. But she didn't have to.
Four Naruto's erupted from the water, one behind, two to the sides, and one in front of Joukei. The Naruto in front twisted around and went for a spin kick. His foot was grabbed however, and he was thrown backwards into the oncoming Naruto towards the back. They collided and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The two Naruto's at the sides raced forward. The one on the right reached Joukei first. He raised his fist to strike, but Joukei was quicker, kicking him in the stomach and thrusting his hand directly into Naruto's throat. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Naruto on the left sailed forward, but Joukei merely leant backwards as the Naruto sailed over him harmlessly.
'Stupid brat.' He thought to himself. However, he didn't have much time to think as he felt someone roughly grab him by the arms. He felt a jolt of pain as Naruto's knee slammed into his spine. He was sent upwards, like whiplash from a crashed car. Hinata, now over her fear of the nin somewhat, raced forward. She delivered one of the Juuken strikes her clan was famous for straight to the heart. While the blow connected, she heard a familiar gasp. He eyes widened as Joukei slowly began to blur away, revealing Naruto. He gasped for breath, and coughed up a glob of blood.
"Naruto…" Hinata croaked out. What had she done? She had killed her-
"Hinata! Snap out of it!"
As Naruto fell to the ground, his eyes glazed over, Hinata thought she heard his voice. "Hinata!" it called out again. "I'm sorry Naruto…" she sobbed as she saw his pale white skin- wait, what? Naruto doesn't have pale white skin. Hinata's mouth fell open. Of course! How could she have been so stupid!?
She clasped her hands together.
"Release."
The illusion she had been under immediately dissipated, revealing no dead Naruto lying at her feet. The battle had moved to the centre of the large pond, and now it consisted of Joukei who had obviously recovered from Naruto's knee to the spine, dodging and striking down Naruto's shadow clones. Still, to put a Hyūga in a Genjutsu, especially with the Byakugan, was no easy feat. He had performed it almost flawlessly.
"Hinata, are you there!?" Naruto yelled once again. Joukei dispersed two other shadow clones, and, seeing Naruto talking to Hinata, sped forward with a kunai in hand.
"You're mine brat!"
Naruto didn't have time to react, out of instinct raised his arm up to block the blow. It worked, but the kunai pierced his arm deeply. Joukei withdrew another and went to stab the blonde in the chest, but Naruto reacted quickly, using his other hand to catch the blade.
With a snarl, Joukei leapt backwards and began to make hand signs. "Lightning Style: Voltage Jutsu!"
A collection of lightning bolts sped out of Joukei's hands, heading straight towards Naruto. However, the blonde made a familiar hand sign and summoned a shadow clone to take the hit. But then, the volts veered down, and hit the water with a deep crackle. The pond erupted in sparks, and Naruto gasped out in pain as a multitude of volts circulated through his body. Joukei leapt up to avoid his own jutsu, but was now met with Hinata in the air.
The Hyūga was trying her hardest to hit the lightning ninja to no avail. Every time she came close he ducked or dodged. As they fell back towards the water Hinata had an idea. Pushing chakra to her feet, she retracted and pushed them towards Joukei. Of course, he caught them, but Hinata pushed her chakra into him, resulting in a Juuken kick. Joukei felt some of his Tenketsu points block up, and with it the chakra flow to his hands.
"You bitch!" He cursed. As Hinata and Joukei landed on the now un-electrified water, the lightning nin rushed forward. He went for an uppercut but Hinata jumped backwards. He went to swipe out her legs and she jumped. This went on for a few moments, Hinata dodging every single one of Joukei's moves thanks to her poise and grace, with Joukei getting more and more frustrated by the second. Finally, he tried for another sweep, which Hinata dodged with ease and leapt into the air. But that was what Joukei wanted her to do. He swiftly uppercutted her, knocking her higher into the air. However, he made a series of complex hand signs. "Lightning Style: Lightning Pa-"
Naruto placed his arms under Joukei's arms and up around his shoulders, sealing the grip with a clutch. "No you don't asshole." Naruto sneered. However, Joukei smiled.
"Thank you for making it easier for me to take you out, brat."
The lightning ninja head-butted Naruto, and as the blonde recoiled Joukei made a series of hand signs. "Lightning Style: Thunder Wave Jutsu!"
A shockwave of blue energy pulsed from Joukei's position, knocking Naruto backwards and shocking him in the process. As Naruto flew backwards, Joukei ran forward and planted another punch to the gut. As Naruto gasped for breath, Joukei gave him an uppercut and a final punch to the jaw.
While the blonde connected with one of the many statues that littered the area, crumpling to the floor, Joukei whirled around to dodge two of Hinata's palm strikes. Before she could react, he punched her in the gut, knocking the air out of her lungs, before grabbing her neck with both of his hands.
"Bitch." He snarled, before closing his eyes. Hinata felt multiple jolts of pain flow through her body, all emanating from her neck. With a strangled cry her knees crumpled as the electricity flowed through her body.
Joukei smiled maliciously, slapping her across the face. She fell backwards onto the water, barely conscious. As she floated, Joukei sighed, retracting a kunai from his pouch. "Shame that a clan such as the Hyūga was born with such a waste of talent." He spun the kunai in his hand for good measure, before thrusting it downwards, aiming for Hinata's heart.
"Fang over fang!"
Two cyclones appeared from the left, speeding straight towards the lightning ninja. He noticed just in time however, and leapt backwards as the first cyclone crashed into the water. The two worked together, chasing Joukei all around the pond. Joukei managed to dodge every attack, narrowly avoiding a few broken bones. Slowly, after a few moments the cyclones stopped spinning, revealing two identical teenage boys.
Joukei sighed. "More interruptions?"
Kiba growled menacingly. "Back off."
Hinata slowly rubbed her head. She needed to recuperate, get off the water and onto dry land. With her head spinning, she could make out two blurry shapes across the way. "She's my teammate. You have anything to do with her, you have something to do to me!"
Hinata tried to stand, weakly calling out "Kiba…."
However, she was hit by a dizzy spell and fell backwards, only to be caught in someone's arms. The person quickly and silently ran and leapt over a low cut hedge which was quite close to the bench Naruto and Hinata had been sitting on not minutes ago.
"Shino?" she croaked out, earning a hush from the bug nin. She felt something crawling across her forehead. Her blurry vision cleared, revealing a rather concerned looking Shino.
"Wh-what happened?" She whispered. Shino, it almost seemed, cracked a smile under his hood.
"Some of my Kikaichū contain poison , but some contain medicine."
Hinata furrowed her eyebrows. While she didn't know much about Shino's Kikaichū, she did know that they fed on chakra and lived within the host's body. But that was about it. So, this was news to her.
"I'll explain later." Shino said as he noticed the curiosity in her eyes, recalling his bugs back to his body. "Stay here and recuperate. When and if you feel well enough, rejoin the fight."
With that, he leapt over the hedge and ran forward.
Hinata panted heavily. While the effects of the Kikaichū were definitely helping, she still felt extremely light headed and dazed. She still had about half of her chakra left, as she slowly peeked over the hedge, she knew that the others would need all the help they could get.
Kiba was engaging with Joukei in a taijutsu battle, Kiba's fists sending water flying into the air. As the dog nin barrelled forward with his fist cocked, Joukei dodged to the side and delivered a kick to the gut, knocking Kiba off balance. The lightning ninja then sent his fist flying, hoping to catch Kiba's jaw. The dog nin caught it, and swivelled his own around, clocking Joukei in the jaw. He slowly stumbled backwards, while Kiba landed on his feet once again and went on the offensive. Kiba was stronger, but Joukei was faster. After dodging a sweeping kick Joukei had leapt upwards, and started to perform some hand signs. "Lightning Style: Voltage Jutsu!"
Lightning bolts flew from Joukei's hands directly towards the dog nin. Kiba let out a bark of frustration. With a puff of smoke Akamaru appeared in Kiba's place, panting. He was tired, as he had been fighting Joukei the whole time. But, where was the real Kiba?
Kiba leapt upwards from the water, an explosive kunai in hand. He threw it, and Joukei back flipped, narrowly avoiding the explosion. Kiba had withdrawn some shuriken from his pouch and began flinging them at Joukei, who withdrew his own kunai and began batting them away. While all this was going on, Akamaru was breathing deeply, and before he could react the bolts of lightning were upon him…
A wall of bugs separated the lightning bolts and Akamaru, the crackle of dying bugs filling the air. Shino stepped forward, scooping up Akamaru and feeding him a food pill. The dog gave a bark of approval, and leapt from Shino's arms, rejuvenated.
Kiba meanwhile was still engaged in a battle with Joukei. He threw shuriken which the lightning nin deflected, and rushed forward with a kunai drawn. There was a clash of steel as Joukei and Kiba's kunai met in battle. They were pretty evenly matched, but after a few seconds it was apparent that Joukei had the upper hand. As Kiba dodged a quick strike, Joukei kicked him in the gut and went to slash at his throat. The dog nin managed to block the strike, but didn't notice Joukei's free palm fill with electricity. He slammed it into Kiba's gut, shocking him. With Kiba injured, Joukei once again went at his throat. He didn't connect however as Shino joined the duo, aiming with his own kunai at Joukei's head. The lightning ninja dodged, kicked Kiba in the gut for good measure and whirled around to face Shino. There was another clash of steel as the duo's kunai met in battle. Shino, knowing he could not win in hand to hand combat, jumped backwards. Quickly, his Kikaichū began to swarm out of him as he created some hand signs. "Aburame Art: Insect Cyclone Jutsu!"
As the insects formed into the cyclone and sped forwards at an alarming rate, Joukei knew he would have to react fast. He went to create some hand signs of his own to counter Shino's technique, but he couldn't, as a certain blonde ninja interfered. Naruto kicked Joukei in the side, causing the lightning ninja to wince and not complete his hand signs. Naruto leapt backwards just in time as the cyclone of insects cascaded into Joukei. With the full force of the blast he was sent careening over the water's surface, turning and twisting. He landed with a thud against a statue and fell to the ground. While Shino withdrew his bugs, he noticed something different; something small and pellet like. In a flash, he was obscured by thick black smoke. Joukei seemingly rose from his fake slumber and sped forward into the smoky blackness. There was as sound of clashing steel and a cry of pain. Shino sailed out of the black smog, landing with a thud against the ground. Kiba growled, bounding forward once again with Akamaru at his side "Inuzuka Style: Bestial Rage Jutsu!"
Akamaru transformed into Kiba once more, and the duo was soon enveloped in a silhouette of purple chakra. "Bestial Fang over fang!"
The duo turned into purple cyclones instead of the usual grey ones, and were significantly faster. Joukei didn't have time to block as the combined force of Kiba and Akamaru connected with his back. There was a loud crack and Joukei cried out in pain.
Hinata, seeing her opportunity jumped up and caught Joukei in the shoulder with a palm strike. It seized up, going limp at his side. She dodged gracefully as he flew forward and landed against a tree. A loud crack filled the large garden as the tree slowly fell downwards and collapsed.
As the dust cleared, Kiba panted heavily. Maybe it was- no, he wasn't there. Wait, what!?
Kiba scowled, where was the lightning ninja? He couldn't see anything…
Wait, no, he couldn't see anything at all. The world was slowly fading to black.
"What!?" Kiba called out. He heard Akamaru yip in fear and the dog nin turned his gaze to the now fading dog.
Kiba twisted and turned, trying to escape whatever this was. Slowly, his ears began to fail him. Then his sense of smell began to disappear also, his main weapon was vanishing! The world was black, there was a deafening silence. He felt as though his nose had been blocked up. Maybe he was dead?
As for Hinata it was a completely different story. She was watching as Kiba turned around, desperately looking for… well, Hinata didn't know. "Kiba!" She called out once again, but it seemed as though he couldn't hear her.
He stumbled around blind for a few moments before the dog nin fell on his knees. He let out a sharp cry of pain, like he had been struck in the face. Hinata rushed forward, ready to help her friend-
She was cut off as Joukei appeared in front of her, socking her in the gut. The Hyūga let out a gasp of pain as she was sent backwards.
"You cow!" He snarled, clutching his limp arm. Hinata wiped some blood that was dripping down her chin and scowled. She was however, lifted up by Naruto.
"You okay?" He asked her, and even though this wasn't the time or place, she blushed. But that was short lived as Joukei rushed forward with a kunai in his good hand. Naruto shoved the Hyūga out the way and blocked the kunai with one of his own. Naruto went for a slash, but Joukei ducked and tried to stab the blonde in the leg. He jumped back to avoid the attack and raced forward. Another round of blocks and blows began until Joukei parried one of Naruto's attacks and saw an opening. He had to act quickly as Hinata was rushing forward to attack him. Quick as a flash, he ripped off his blindfold. He had no eyes, just empty black eye sockets. Naruto seemed frozen, before he started to twist and turn around. "Hey, why's everything going dark! Where am I!?"
Hinata rushed forward and went for another Juuken strike, but Joukei ducked. The Hyūga blanched for a second as she got up close to those black eye sockets. They were like a dark void that wanted to suck you in-
Hinata let out a croak. She looked down, and saw the kunai embedded deep in the right side of her stomach. Joukei grinned. "Sucks for you, bitch!"
He pulled out the kunai ruthlessly, blood flowing freely from the now gaping wound. Hinata let out a cry of pain as she tried to stop the blood. Joukei, however didn't give her a chance. He brought the kunai and once again stabbed her in the stomach and yanking it out. He slapped her forcefully, knocking her backwards as she yelped in pain.
Joukei laughed as he saw the girl writhing and crying in pain as she tried to stop the bleeding. The water had run red with her blood and the lightning ninja smirked happily. Now that everyone was incapacitated-
Joukei heard them before he saw them. A battalion of beetles descended on his good arm, and the sound of tearing flesh filled the air. Joukei gave a howl of pain as Shino came stumbling out of the forest, a gash on his cheek. He panted heavily but under his tattered hood he smirked.
"You're done." He announced. Joukei gave another howl, but shook his head forcefully.
"No, you are done!"
He made a single hand seal, and yelled "Lightning Style: Thunder Wave Jutsu!"
A shockwave of lightning released from Joukei's body, frying the insects on his arm leaving a torn and bloody mess in their wake. Shino frowned; he had lost half of his colony. He needed to finish up soon.
Joukei made a move before the bug nin could even blink. He made some unfamiliar hand signs, and yelled "Lightning Style: Lightning Spear Jutsu!"
A spear of lightning formed in Joukei's hand, and he smirked before throwing it. The speed which it moved was too much for Shino to bear, and with an almighty cackle connected with Shino's left shoulder. There was a hiss as the spear evaporated, leaving a gaping hole of flesh and blood. Shino covered the flesh wound with his hand, groaning in pain. He shot one last look at the bleeding and spluttering Hinata, who's hands were glowing green and she was trying to patch up her wounds. As a last ditch effort, Shino sent a few of his medicine bugs to help with her healing jutsu. Shino fell on his knees, took a sharp intake of breath, and fell forwards, unconscious.
Joukei smirked, surveying the area. Naruto and Kiba were unconscious thanks to the effects of the Genjutsu with Akamaru yipping at his master's side. Hinata was still trying to seal the huge cuts, and was succeeding, although her eyes were glazing over. His work was done.
He sauntered over the water and scooped Naruto up in his arm. As he proceeded to walk away back into the forest, he heard a twig snap. He whirled around to see a stream of fire flying towards him. He dodged to the side just in time, dropping Naruto with a loud thud on the ground. From behind a tree, the mystery assailant revealed himself.
Sasuke scoffed. "Freak." He gestured to Joukei's empty eye sockets, and activated his Sharingan. Joukei blanched slightly, and the Uchiha smirked. "Prepare to face the true power of the Uchiha!"