True Path of a Jinchuuriki Ch 3: Awakening of Darkness (Revised)
(Italics: Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dream sequence. Bold: Title and Kyubi's / Demon's / Inner Characters's Speech. Underline: Time Skips)
Tsunade sighed as she finished the last of her paperwork and uncorked a bottle of her home-brew, with one long sip she gulped down at least a third of the bottle's contents, after corking the bottle and stashing it in a drawer she wiped her lips and sighed as she leaned her head back, a moment later a loud, audible knock sounded from the other side of the door, Tsunade cleared her throat. "Come in!" She called out.
A moment later Tsunade's office door swung open and the forms of Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata emerged from the doorway and entered her office, closing the door behind them. After the door closed Kakashi dropped down to one knee and bowed slightly toward Tsunade. "I have brought them as you requested Lady Tsunade." Kakashi said respectfully. Tsunade nodded in response. "Very well Kakashi, you are dismissed." She said in reply.
Kakashi stood up, shifted his gaze toward Naruto, nodded and smiled beneath his mask. "Good luck." He whispered to him. And with those words Kakashi vanished in a cloud of white smoke. As Kakashi made his departure Naruto and Hinata sat down at the two chairs set up in front of Tsunade's desk, their focus on Tsunade, Tsunade gazed at Naruto and Hinata with a grin on her face. "Let's get down to business shall we?" Tsunade said.
"The Mission is a B Rank, the client for this mission is a man named Taro, Taro has requested our services in as body guards, you see Taro used to work for a man named Kira, Kira is a powerful drug lord from the hidden grass village and during his work their he worked in what some would call the pharmaceutical business, during his time their he discovered a method to cheaply mass produce expensive drugs.
His boss, Kira discovered his private research and demanded access to his method, Taro agreed but betrayed him knowing Kira would use his method to mass produce illegal and dangerous drugs cheaply so he gathered his prototypes and destroyed all his research, Taru is a good friend of the Mizukage so he will be brought under protection once he's in mist village borders, your job is to get him there.
Kira is most well known for his hit list, you see Kira is also a client in an illegal bounty hunter organization and whenever Kira adds a name on the list he simply adds a reward next to the person's name and then the person's name is added to the list he or she is most likely going to die. So far no-one has survived long after their name is added to the list. Your mission is to escort Taro to the borders of the Hidden Mist, this will be a true test of what you've learned these past five years, okay Naruto?" Tsunade explained as she shot Naruto a small grin.
Naruto grinned and nodded his head in response. "You can come in now." Tsunade called out. A moment later the office door opened again and a tall, dark haired male figure emerged from the doorway, the man was almost as tall as Naruto was, and was dressed in tight black pants and a plain black t-shirt, a nervous expression on his face as he said in an anxious tone: "H-Hello my name is Taro, well let's get going shall we?"
Fifteen Minutes Later...
Naruto, Hinata, and Taro stood at the village gate, Naruto smiled at Hinata."You ready?" He asked her. Hinata smiled and nodded in response. Naruto shifted his gaze toward Taro. "Say Taro how fast can you run?" Naruto asked. Taro scratched the back of his head nervously. "N-Not very well." He replied with a nervous smile on his face. Naruto quickly made a cross symbol. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" As the incantation echoed a shadow replication of Naruto manifested in a cloud of white smoke, after the smoke had cleared the clone dropped down to one knee, allowing Taro to ride on his back. Taro looked at Naruto with a questionable look in his eyes, Naruto made eye contact and nodded as Taro proceeded to climb on the shadow clone's back. Naruto shifted his gaze toward Hinata and smiled, Hinata smiled back and nodded, with that gesture the three figures vanished into the proceeding darkness.
Four hours Later...
Naruto, his shadow clone carrying Taro, and Hinata jump from tree branch to tree branch, if they kept up their pace they were well on their way to the Hidden Mist's Borders, the sun had already set and the night sky became filled with darkness, if they traveled for another solid twelve hours at this speed they would get there around noon tomorrow. Naruto knew Hinata was strong but wasn't sure how long she was going to last, and whatever Hinata's limit was Taro's would probably be even less than that so they would have to set up camp soon, suddenly Naruto felt an unfamiliar chakra signature in his presence. Making a quick decision Naruto came to a halt, his shadow clone carrying Taro and Hinata coming to a stop beside him. Hinata's gaze drifted toward Naruto, a curious look in her eyes. "Why did we stop Naruto-kun?" She asked out of curiosity.
Naruto threw his arm out and gesture her to remain silent as his gaze narrowed and he thought: Where is it coming from? Below? From the left? From the right? Above! He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as a black cloaked figure who's face was hidden from view beneath his hood appeared above them and sliced downward. Hinata, Naruto, and Naruto's shadow clone carrying Taro narrowly dodged the attack, the branch they were standing on a few moments ago severing cleanly from the tree as gravity plunged it downward with a crash into the ground below. Naruto, Hinata, and his shadow clone got in delta formation around Taro, Kunai ready and Naruto's blade unsheathed and raided in front of him in a strong, defensive position.
A moment later a powerful barrage of Kunai came flying at them from the right, Hinata and Taro were caught in the attack as Naruto and his shadow Clone dodged, landing on a tree branch above. As the Kunai pierced Hinata and Taro's body their forms disappeared in clouds of smoke. The Dark cloaked figure appeared on a tree branch opposite of Naruto and his single clone as he laughed darkly and said: "Using transformations with your shadow clones, I must say I'm impressed, although they must be hiding like rats around here somewhere..." Before he could say another word Naruto appeared above him and sliced downward his now glowing blade with both hands. "I'm your opponent!" He said fiercely as he sliced downward.
The man smirked as his slender silver blade came into contact with Naruto's blade, his blade enveloped in chakra as well as sparks flew everywhere. Naruto tried with all of his might to throw his opponent off balance, the man unfortunately held his ground. Holding his blade up with just one hand. A sinister look suddenly became written across the man's facial expression as he performed single-handed hand signs with his free hand. "Don't underestimate me boy, you're no match for me!" The man yelled.
Naruto tried his best to hold his ground, biting down on his lip. "Damn it..." He muttered to himself. As he finished the hand signs the man'e eyes snapped open.
"Lost Art! Death Beam Jutsu!" He called out, the incantation echoeing.
The man's free hand glowed a bright crimson as he roared with all of his might and slammed his open palm forward. A powerful beam of energy piercing through Naruto's shoulder as Naruto barely shifted his body just in time.
Hinata sat in a hollow tree, covering Taro's mouth as to not make any noise, a moment later the sound of an explosion echoed across the forest, loud screams of agony immediately following. Hinata's eyes widened. Naruto! She thought grabbed her shoulder, catching her attention. "I'll hide here, I can tell you care about him, now go." Taro said with a weak smile. Hinata smiled and muttered a thank you as she vanished into the shadows.
Naruto held his shoulder in pain as he struggled to get up, his vision beginning to blur as he coughed up some blood. The dark cloaked figure smirked, the sinister expression on his face illuminated by the bright twilight, he slid his blade back in it's sheath. "I must say I'm quite disappointed, I thought you'd at least provide me with a little entertainment before I kill you and hunt down that girl that was with you and of course my helpless prey..." The man said in a dark, sinister tone. Naruto's eyes snapped open as he used his blade to push his body from the ground, a moment later the man appeared to Naruto's right and slammed his fist downward, sending Naruto's face smashing into the ground below.
The Bounty Hunter gazed at Naruto curiously as he said in an emotionless tone: "Interesting, after that attack most of my prey would have been dead by now, what is it that makes you so special? I wonder..." The man grinned and extended his palm, biting down on the tips of all his fingers as he slammed his fist down into Naruto's stomach.
"Lost Arts! Chakra Thief Jutsu!" The man called out, the incantation echoeing.
Naruto screamed out in agony as all of his chakra was forcibly taken from his body, a strange seal left on his stomach, as the bounty Hunter retracted his hand Naruto's shadow clone vanished in a cloud of smoke.
A moment later a familiar presence came closer as Hinata. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out desperately.
Naruto turned to face her. "Hinata stay away!" He yelled in her direction. Hinata became frozen in place as the man fighting Naruto appeared behind her, before she could even react a blade pierced through her body, sticking out of her neck as the blade became coated in blood. Naruto's eyes widened as the man flicked Hinata off his blade like a rag doll. Naruto kept staring into empty space, countless emotions swirling inside of him, and right then somewhere deep inside of him Naruto snapped.
There was an enormous burst of energy as what appeared to be black chakra leaked out of Naruto's body, his eyes whiting out as all the dark chakra surged through, his frane surrounded by an aura of darkness, his eyes shifting to a dark black as the concentration of energy fused with Naruto's body. A dark grin appearing on his facial expression, then he suddenly began to laugh. The Bounty Hunter flicked Hinata's blood off his blade and looked at Naruto curiously. "What's so funny brat?" The bounty Hunter asked in a dangerous tone.
Naruto stopped laughing, the same dark grin on his face.
"Sorry I'm just having a hard time deciding how I'm going to kill you..."
The man vanished and appeared in front of Naruto, stabbing his blade forward at full-power. "I'll punish you for your arrogance!" The man roared. Naruto merely grinned and appeared not to move as the man's blade pierced through his chest, the man grinned for a moment and than a split-second later the smile was wiped clean from his face as the after-image he was attacking fading into nothingness. Naruto appeared behind him and stabbed the man right through his chest. "Too slow." He said in an emotionless tone.
With one swift, graceful movement Naruto retracted his blade from the Bounty Hunter's chest sliced the man cleanly in half from the waist. The man fell to the ground dead, Naruto kicking the body as he laughed maniacally, suddenly a pain shot through his entire body as he fell on his knees and cried out in agony, Naruto's eyes went blank and were replaced with his regular shade of cerulean. Naruto's eyes widened. Shit I forgot about Hinata!The image in his mind of Hinata getting stabbed scarring his memory.
With that thought he struggled to move his body as we made his way over to Hinata, naruto put his hand to her neck. Shit! Her pulse is fading! Naruto thought desperately. Thinking of only one option Naruto pulled Hinata's coat off and ripped her t-shirt off as he thought with a blush on his face. Please forgive me Hinata... Naruto put his palms down between her breasts and closes his eyes as he elementally composed his chakra into a charge of electricity and slammed it into her, giving her heart and chakra a spike of energy, her pulse returned and she began to cough hard as her breathing came back to her, her body becoming unconscious from exhaustion.
Naruto sighed and collapsed on the ground. Thank god she's alright... And with that final thought he collapsed on the ground, doing his best to remain conscious as he struggled to get up and performed the cross symbol as he summoned three clones, one to find Taro, one to carry him, and one to carry Hinata's body to safety.
A/N:Well I certainly worked hard on this chapter, this chapter was to give everyone a taste of the action and gore, my story isn't purely based off romance, if it was it'd be boring as hell. Anyway the next part of the mission will have to wait until next chapter, will Hinata survive? Will Naruto learn how to tap into this unknown power he discovered? Keep reading and find out! REVIEW if you care!
Peace! - DL5