True Path of a Jinchuuriki Ch 5: The Aftermath (Revised)
(Italics: Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dream sequence. Bold: Title and Kyubi's / Demon's / Inner Characters's Speech. Underline: Time Skips)
Tsunade was on one of the very few days off and as usual she intended to spend it doing her favorite pass-time: (Besides drinking.) Gambling! She sighed after another big loss and decided to call it quits. (Not out of intuition she just ran out of gambling funds.) Before she went to her place however she walked into her favorite Sake Bar, she may have ran out of gambling funds but she still had enough to get herself a drink for the night. As she walked in the usual bartender, a tall, slender black haired male named Ryu. Tonight he was dressed in a plain, black outfit giving him a casual yet unusual look. As she approached the bar she took a seat. "Hey Ryu I'd like the usual." She said in a casual tone.
Ryu grinned and nodded as he reached beneath and pulled out two bottles of Sake and placed them on the table. She put the money on the table and was about to leave when Ryu spoke. "Hey Tsunade there's this new kind of gambling that me and my friend came up with, their scratch cards and they're pretty cheap too." Ryu said. Tsunade looked at him confused as she repeated: "Scratch cards?" Ryu sighed. "You buy one of these cards and use your fingernail to scratch off the paint over these slots, if one of them has an amount of money written on it you win, it's quite simple actually." He explained. Tsunade seemed intrigued, she only had mere pocket change left but it was enough to get at least one of those cards. "Ah what the hell, give me one." Tsunade said as she put the last of her money on the table and slipped the card into her pocket. As she did that she picked up her bottles of Sake and thanked Ryu as she exited the bar.
As she slipped back into her office she smiled at the memory of her relaxing, yet uneventful day to herself, she grabbed the first bottle and opened it with a grin on her face as she took the bottle straight to her lips and took a long, deep sip. As she brought the bottle away from her lips it fell on her desk with a slight thud, stirring up the bottles contents. I wonder how Naruto and Hinata's mission went? They should have sent us a message by now I'm worried... She thought to herself as she pushed her body upward from the desk, as she did that the scratch card she had bought earlier slipped out of her front pocket and landed in front of her. Tsunade smiled to herself. "I almost forgot I bought this." She said to herself.
She put her fingernail to the slot. Might as well get it over with... She thought, and with a deep breath she scratched away the paint from all the boxes, her body trembling and her eyes widening as she stared at the scratch card in front of her. The center square read 100,000 Ryo. A moment later Shizune enters the office and asked: "Hey Tsunade how was your day off-" Shizune tried to ask but was cut off by Tsunade. "Shizune assemble a team of ANBU immediately!" Tsunade commanded. Shizune flinched not expecting her friend to act so serious so suddenly. After the moment of hesitation Tsunade spoke again. "I'm the Hokage now follow my orders!" She said. "At once Lady Hokage!" Shizune replied as she vanished in a cloud of white smoke. Tsunade dropped the winning scratch card to the floor. I hope I'm not too late Naruto... She thought to herself quietly.
Naruto's eyes slowly began to open, his blurry vision slowly coming into focus. As his vision returned to him he found himself in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees. After he had a moment to recollect his thoughts he gazed upward at the sky and asked himself questions. What happened? I remember fighting someone, waking up and then Taro... Taro! As Taro's name echoed in his mind it triggered something. Like a whirlwind of emotions it all came rushing back to him, his eyes widening in shock as he realized he had just killed someone, he even gave up and begged for his life but Naruto took it anyway...
Even though taking the life of an enemy was a necessary duty of a shinobi he still thought of human life as precious and only killed when absolutely necessary. As this realization hit him he became lost in thought. I killed him... I'm to blame. As those words echoed in his mind a familiar voice replied in the back of his mind.
You're wrong Naruto... We killed him...
The voice said. Naruto's eyes widened. "why did you kill him?" He asked himself. A familiar dark laughter echoed in the back of his mind. After the laughter died down the voice spoke again.
"It's because you were weak! My power was so immense it was intoxicating to you, you could have stopped me if you were stronger! And you honestly call yourself a Jinchuuriki!?"
Naruto flinched at his clones words yet realized they had a harsh truth to them, if he had control over these powers awakening within him he would not have to resort to activating his Kekei Genkai merely on instinct like an wild animal. He slammed his fist into the ground as he muttered: "Damn..." He tried to relax as he became comfortable with his surroundings, he became so lost in thought he even failed to notice Hinata slowly walk up behind him. Hinata smiled at Naruto as he gazed carelessly into the sky, their seem to be a strong aura of confidence and peace surrounding someone who nearly escaped death, her included.
Maybe they were both crazy. As she got closer Naruto appeared to hear her approaching footsteps as he casually twisted his neck and shifted his gaze to meet hers as he greeted her with a warm smile. Hinata smiled back and asked: "How are your wounds?" Naruto slid his shirt off and checked himself off and replied: "I seem to be healed." As the memory of the red chakra surrounding Naruto's body and instantly healing wounds replayed in her mind she thought to herself: I thought so...
Hinata smiled at him warmly as the image of the demonic being he transformed into flashed before her eyes, but when she looked into his eyes she knew he was the same blond haired boy she had fallen in love with years before, it may have sparked from an emotion so simplistic as admiration but she knew it was real. She snapped back into reality suddenly as Naruto spoke to her: "Say Hinata how is your wound?" Hinata looked at him confused and then a moment later the realization hit her, she looked at Naruto and replied: "Now that I think about it, it was gone when I woke up earlier." Naruto smiled to himself as he said: "Is that so? I'm glad to hear that."
Hinata smiled and a moment later her smile faded as her gaze drifted from Naruto's eyes. "What's wrong Hinata?" Naruto asked with concern reflecting in his cerulean eyes. Hinata tightened her hand into a fist as she thought: Just ask him Hinata, it'd be better if he told her about his transformation and not someone else. "Naruto we need to talk, I need to know... What happened to you back there? During the fight you changed, it was like you were a completely different person... I felt so powerless... So please as one of your friends, tell me what's going on..." She said with a worried look on her face.
Naruto's gaze drifted away. "Hinata you've been watching me for as long as I can remember, did you ever wonder why the villagers beat me when I was only a little kid?" Naruto asked. Hinata's expression on her face remain unchanged as she slowly nodded, urging Naruto to continue.
"Seventeen years ago the Nine Tailed Fox Demon attacked the village, the shinobi of the village at the time were trying their best to protect it but none of their Ninja techniques worked on the sinister demon, all they could do was hold him off long enough for the Fourth Hokage to get there. When the Hokage had arrived he fought a fierce battle with the Demon, but toward the end of the fight things began to look grim, as a last resort the Hokage sacrificed his own life in order to seal the demon in the body of a newborn baby boy." naruto explained. Hinata's eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips as she realized who the baby was as he continued. "That baby was me."
Five Elite ANBU Operatives jumped from tree branch to tree branch stealthily, as the ANBU in the center of the other four came to a halt so did the others. As the four other ANBU came to a stop one of them asked the ANBU in the middle. "What are our orders captain?" The ANBU refereed to as captain cleared his throat. "Everyone split up, light a flare if you find anything." He replied. "Roger." All four ANBU replied in sync as they vanished into the shadows, splitting up in all directions.
Hinata covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes widened in shock. Naruto put his back to her and stared off into the distance as he continued to speak. "It's alright if you want to run, I won't stop you, and I certainly won't blame you, if the others knew my secret I'm sure they would react out of fear too... Besides after the way I killed that guy I'm nothing more than a mon-" Naruto said but was sharply cut off by Hinata's words. "Don't say it!" Before Naruto could react Hinata ran up behind him and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a deep embrace. "You're not a monster, you're Naruto my favorite number one unpredictable shinobi." Hinata explained. Naruto's tense body seemed to relax a little at Hinata's touch yet he couldn't place why. After a long silence Naruto spoke again. "Why..." Naruto asked. "Why what?" Hinata asked him in reply as she held him tightly. "Why are you reacting like this? What possible reason could you have to be so kind to me?"
Hinata pulled away from him suddenly and walked a few feet away as she put her back to him this time. Naruto looked at her questionably as a short silence followed.
"Naruto ever since we were children I've watched you, all I knew for sure then is I enjoyed watching you, as we grew older I continued to watch you, watching you grow stronger and better, I always lacked confidence ever since I was little but watching you filled me with hope, I made myself stronger and changed myself for the better all thanks to you..." She explained. "Hinata..." Naruto muttered, unsure of what to say, but before he could she continued. "That admiration for you never went away and with time those feelings grew stronger until I was certain... It was love."
Hinata said with a smile. She had waited years for this moment and she had always fantasized about it, she wasn't expecting him to reply, she wasn't expecting him to do anything. For that reason alone she was caught off guard as Naruto came up behind and tilted her neck so their gazes met. Hinata blushed deeply as she got lost in those deep, cerulean eyes of his. So lost in fact she failed to notice his lips moving closer to hers until he had captured her in a deep, passionate, kiss. Hinata felt as if she were in a dream as she kissed him back and wrapped her arms around him. Now she was certain, he was her Naruto-kun. Nothing more, nothing less.
Naruto wrapped his arms around her, holding Hinata in place as he gently pressed his lips to hers. Naruto had no idea anyone had deep feelings for him yet a part of him felt as if he knew all along, any guy would be happy with a girl like Hinata, and even though he didn't fully understand her feelings for him he gladly accepted them, who was he to deny this lovely girl happiness? He wasn't quite sure what to make of all this but one thing was for certain. He wasn't alone anymore.
Thirty Minutes Later...
"Ready Hinata?" Naruto asked. Hinata smiled and nodded in response as he gave her a piggy back ride. Naruto grinned and concentrated a large mass of chakra in the soles of his feet as he suddenly took off in a burst of chakra-enhanced speed. The world around them appeared as a blur of colors as Naruto rushed down a path that led directly to the village. It wasn't the safest route but it was certainly the fastest. After about five hours of travel they were about halfway to the village from their current location, Hinata had her Byakugan activated in case of enemy attack. Suddenly Hinata saw the shadowed form of a man coming directly at them, squeezing Naruto's shoulder gently. "We have company." She whispered in his ear gently.
Naruto nodded in confirmation as he suddenly came to a halt and placed his hands in a cross symbol and concentrated chakra throughout his body. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He called out, the incantation echoing through the forest as five shadow replications of himself manifested around him in a big cloud of smoke, forming a ring around Hinata and himself. A moment later the shadowed figure emerged from the shadow. "Are you Naruto Uzumaki? And Hinata Hyuuga?" The shadowed figure asked. Naruto looked at him skeptically. "Who wants to know?" Naruto asked not dropping his guard for a moment, the man walked into the beam of sunlight shimmering through the trees, exposing his animal mask and full-body armor. "I'm a member of the ANBU Elite Operatives and I've been ordered to bring you two back to the village." The man explained.
A/N: Much of this chapter is filler and I apologize for that but hey little things happen inbetween big events so it's realistic if you think about it. Anyway I've been thinking about it and this story is kind of like a fusion of my first and second story, the most popular ones of the four stories I've published and gone full-out on. But I'm guessing most the people checking out this story are unfamiliar with my work. Anyway if you REVIEW I know you care!
Peace! - DL5