True Path of a Jinchuuriki Ch 14: The Seventh Seal

(Italics: Thoughts / Flashbacks / Dream sequence. Bold: Title and Kyubi's / Demon's / Inner Characters's Speech. Underline: Time Skips)

Tsunade sat in her office, staring off into space as she gripped her Sake bottle tightly. As she feared all six seals of the physical realm have been broken and only one remained... The last restraint to that forbidden darkness, if the Seventh seal was lost as well unlimited possibilities will become open to them, unfortunately that applies to their enemies as well... She was forcibly brought back to face the harsh reality as an audible knock sounded from her office door. She immediately regained her composure and cleared her throat. "Come in!" She called out into the emptiness before her. A moment later her heavy office door swung open as the forms of Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata entered the room.

Hinata casually closed the door behind her, Kakashi dropped to one knee and made a short bow. "I have brought them as you requested Lady Hokage." Kakashi informed Tsunade. Tsunade nodded toward him in response."Very well Kakashi, you are to remain here because you too will be participating in this mission.." Tsunade informed the Masked shinobi. "As you wish Lady Hokage." And with those words Kakashi backed himself to a wall, sat down and pulled out his favorite book to read to pass the time. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence Naruto audibly cleared his throat. "So why have you summoned us here Lady Hokage?" Naruto asked in a surprisingly good-mannered tone.

Tsunade looked at him curiously and her gaze drifted to Hinata as a smile appeared on her face. I see so that's how it is... Tsunade thought to herself. "Be patient Naruto once the rest of the shinobi I have summoned arrive I'll get right to the details." After several minutes of uncomfortable silence a knock sounded from Tsunade's office door. "Come in!" Tsunade called out in response. The thick wooden door swung open as the forms of Neji, Tenten and surprisingly the Genin Konohamaru emerged from the doorway, closing it behind them. Konohamaru in terms of fashion resembled Naruto in his younger days. Although Konohamaru preferred black to Naruto's favorite color orange so his outfit seemed to blend in with the background more. "You summoned us Lady Hokage?" Tenten asked Tsunade. "Thank you all for coming, now that everyone is here I can now go over the mission details."

She quickly cleared her throat before continuing. "You all are to leave the village immediately and journey south toward the Konoha Fortress, the trip should take no more than three hours if you hurry, it's an abandoned fortress that's kept off limits to be used in an emergency such as this." Tsunade explained. Naruto raised his hand. Tsunade shot him an annoyed look. "Yes Naruto?" She asked in a tone of annoyance. "What emergency are we in exactly?" Naruto asked Tsunade in a tone of genuine curiosity. "That is an S-Class secret that will only be revealed if the need arises, your orders are to protect each other even at the costs of your very lives and position yourselves behind the security of the Konoha fortress.

Worst case scenario you'll encounter Sasuke Uchiha, prepare yourself Naruto because this time you're ordered to kill him if you get the chance." Naruto has a fierce look of determination written across his facial expression as he nodded in acknowledgment. "This is an S-Rank Mission, do not fail me." Tsunade finished.

Sasuke, Kazuma, Ayumi, and Madara moved stealthily through the night, using the night's veil of darkness as their shield, the remaining two of Sasuke's alliance following behind them. Sasuke and his Brotherhood of Darkness were headed toward the Hidden Leaf Village in order to retrieve the living vessel of the Final Seal, the village was still a full days' distance away but as pathetic as the village was in it's entirety the new Hokage was not one to underestimate, from what information he could gather Tsunade was as formidable as his previous master, but even with her inhuman strength she would be no match for the combined power of his Alliance of Darkness...

Flashback:

"Where the hell have you been Sasuke!? What kind of a leader doesn't even arrive at the designated rendezvous point he himself appointed to begin with!?" Ayumi nearly screamed in a furious tone. Sasuke glared at her and she suddenly became quiet as she noticed the stranger behind him. "Who's that?" She asked out of curiosity. Sasuke smirked at her sudden change in behavior. "This is Madara, and he's the one who explained to me why the path towards the frozen flame has not revealed itself to us... It seems there was a seventh seal preventing us access to the Flame." Sasuke explained. "Continue..." Kazuma said in an emotionless tone as he leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree.

"The Final Seal was sealed within a particular bloodline of human beings within the Hidden Leaf Village, the eldest of the bloodline receives the responsibility of possessing the seal." Madara explained. "And what bloodline guards our final obstacle?" Madara grinned darkly from beneath his cloak. "The bloodline belonging to none other than..."

Flashback End.

Two Hours and Fifty-Five Minutes Later...

Naruto, Konohamaru, Hinata, Neji, Kakashi, and Tenten all leapt from one tree branch to the next, Naruto carrying Konohamaru on his back so he could keep up with the other without slowing them down to rest too often. After another few minutes of travel everyone came to a sudden halt as two unfamiliar chakra signatures flared up around them, Neji and Hinata's backs to one another to make up for the Byakugan's weakness as they quickly scanned the surrounding area. Kakashi, Tenten, Naruto and Konohamaru battle-ready with Kunai in hand. Suddenly a voice boomed around them making it impossible to figure out where the source of the voice was located, the only logical explanation is the user of the Jutsu was out of range of Neji and Hinata's bloodline technique.

"Konoha Shinobi why have you ventured this close toward the forbidden fortress!?" The voice demanded. Kakashi cleared his throat. "We have been ordered by the Fifth Hokage to seek refuge in the fortress, the mission is of the highest class and utmost importance." Kakashi replied into the proceeding emptiness of the surrounding area. Everyone kept their guard up and weapons ready unsure of how to handle the situation before them. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence the voice spoke again. "I see so the seal bearer is among you, you may enter." Suddenly the two unsettling presences around them vanished without a trace, almost as if they were never there to begin with.

As they proceeded forward in the direction toward the fortress Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei what do you think the voice meant by the seal bearer is among us?" Naruto asked his previous teacher. "Remember what Tsunade told us Naruto? We would only need to know if the worst-case scenario were to happen..." Naruto was silent after that. That was all he needed to know. Within a matter of moments the Forbidden Fortress came into view, the entire thing appeared to be hand carved from stone in a native architecture. A solid stone statue of the first Hokage staring them right in the eyes in front of the entrance. As Hinata, Naruto, and Konohamaru gazed at the life-like statue Kakashi, Neji, and Tenten walked past them.

"Come on you three we have a mission to fulfill." Kakashi said to them in a scolding tone. Naruto, Hinata, and Konohamaru all sighed in defeat all at once. "Yes Kakashi-sensei..." They all muttered in a crestfallen tone as they ran ahead to catch up with the rest of the group. The stone carving grew more and more bizarre the further they ventured into the Forbidden Fortress. "Say Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked his former teacher, successfully breaking the silence. "What is it Naruto?" Kakashi replied, keeping his eyes focused ahead of him. "I've noticed this place looks a lot like the Fire Temple within the Hokage Monument..."

Kakashi looked around at the carvings on the walls, noticing similarities between the two buildings. "You know you may just be on to something there Naruto..." Suddenly they found themselves in a fork among the passages. Kakashi and the others coming to a sudden halt. "All right let's split up, if you find something spike your chakra, we could use radios but the enemy could intercept the signal and better safe than dead." Kakashi said. Everyone nodded in acknowledgment as Naruto and Hinata went off toward the west, Neji and Tenten going off together to explore the eastern side of the fortress, leaving Kakashi and Konohamaru to explore the northern end of the fortress.

Naruto and Hinata walked westbound down a dimly lit corridor, doors lined up along the walls to their left and right, with a quick push they found themselves in what appeared to be an abandoned military bunker, a regular white bed in all four corners of the room. Naruto came behind Hinata and kisses her neck as he pressed his body to hers. Hinata nearly jumped and her face shifted to a deep crimson as she struggled to get out of Naruto's arms. "Naruto-kun cut it out we're on a mission!" Naruto shot her a sly grin in response. "You love this more than I do, it's written all over your face..." Naruto said in a teasing tone. Hinata's face shifted to an even deeper shade of crimson as she struggled to get out of her lover's arms.

"But Naruto-kun what if somebody catches us?" Hinata asked Naruto. Naruto smirked at her in response. Doing a single hand sign as he gathered chakra throughout his body. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A shadow replication of Naruto manifested in front of Naruto and Hinata in a puff of white smoke. The Naruto clones stood upright and saluted his original self. "What are your orders boss?" Naruto gave his replicated form a thumbs up. "Keep a look out while I get intimate with Hinata-chan..." Naruto shot Hinata a sly look as he said this, Hinata blushing deeply and shifting her gaze down at the floor in response. "Roger that!" And with those words the Shadow Clone stood at the doorway of the military bunker as Naruto and Hinata made out in the virtually empty bedroom.

Meanwhile Neji and Tenten found themselves in a similar situation... Neji and Tenten walked down a long, dimly lit corridor. Tenten walking ahead as Neji walked steadily behind her as he watched his back just in case. Suddenly Tenten came a halt, Neji bumping into her. "What is it Tenten?" Neji asked. Tenten appeared to ignore him and backed up into him, brushing her body against his. "Say Neji what is it you like about me?" Tenten asked her lover with a sly grin on her face. Neji's face became a light shade of crimson and shifted his gaze in response. "Tenten we're on a mission can't you at least wait until we get back to the village?" Neji asked the Weapon Mistress.

Tenten tilted her neck and gazed at the Hyuuga with a pout on her face. "You're no fun...Can't you just keep a look out with those eyes of yours?" Tenten asked in a teasing tone. Neji sighed in response. "You're a handful even with my Byakugan..." Neji informed the Weapon Mistress with a flushed look written across his facial expression as he said this.

Konohamaru and Kakashi walked along the northern corridor of the Fortress in silence. The carvings running along the walls the only decoration in the otherwise dark and depressing place. As they were walking Kakashi came to a sudden halt. "Whats wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Konohamaru asked the Masked Shinobi. "I thought it was strange from the beginning that a mere Genin would be joining us on an S-Rank Mission, you're the one we're supposed to protect right? What's your story Konohamaru?" Konohamaru seemed taken aback from a moment then the young Genin smirked at his Jounin superior. "Nothing gets past you does it Kakashi-sensei? Yeah the thing that our enemies are after, is sealed within me... I learned about it back during the Chunin Exams..."

Flashback:

"Why can't I come with you Grandpa!? I want to fight too!" The boy said to his grandfather as the Hokage dressed himself in black Japanese-style battle armor. Sarutobi smiled at his courageous grandson and patted the top of his head. "I'm sorry Konohamaru I can't allow that, you have an important role as guardian." Konohamaru looked at his grandfather in confusion. "Guardian of what?" The boy asked the Third Hokage. Sarutobi lifted the boys shirt and placed his hand on his stomach, running energy through his arm in a current of chakra as a ring of pure, radiating energy appeared on the boys chest, half the ring radiating a bright violet as the other half radiated a celestial golden texture. Konohamaru looked down at the chakra radiating from his stomach and gazed back up at his grandfather. "Grandfather what is this?" The boy asked his elder in curiosity. "My grandson I'm afraid I don't have much longer to live, when I've passed away you will be the eldest member of our bloodline making it your responsibility to guard the Seal of Light and Darkness from those who hope to obtain the forbidden power sealed away during the forming of the Five Great Nations. Do everything within possibility to make sure that unmatched destruction never scars this world again."

Flashback End.

"I still don't know what the Third was talking about back then but I've kept my promise and used every bit of my resolve so far to survive long enough to fulfill my destiny..." Konohamaru finished.

A konoha shinobi yawned as he began his shift on border-control at a military outpost about eighteen hours distance from his home village. He sipped a mug of coffee as another Konoha shinobi sat down next to him and sipped his own coffee. "Why does the Hokage even bother sending people to this damn outpost, enemies never passed through here unless war were to suddenly break out." One Chunin said to the other as he ingested another dose of caffeine. "Yeah I know we should be getting over-time for this..." The other Chunin replied as he went to make some more coffee. Suddenly the Chunin making coffee felt something strange come over him, his body shaking like crazy as his body moved on it's own, hesitantly pulling out a Kunai and advancing on the other Chunin sipping his coffee.

The advancing Chunin wanted to warn the other of what was happening but found himself unable to say the words as his vocal cords felt as if they were sealed. Silently the first Chunin lunged forward at the other shinobi, stabbing the Kunai right through his head. "Keke how could you...?" The shinobi muttered as he fell to the ground, losing consciousness from the blood loss as a pool of blood gathered beneath the lifeless corpse.

A split second later the chunin retracted the bloody Kunai from his partner and plunged it into his own chest as he fell to the ground dead next to his partner. As the final pulses of the shinobi ended footsteps echoed two shadowed figures emerged from the veil of shadows, walking past the corpses of their prey and the wooden guard post housing their remains. "Don't you think for such insignificant prey you had a little too much fun with them?" Sasuke said to the other shadowed figure. The twilight shone on the face of the shinobi walking at Sasuke's side, revealing himself to be none other than Kage Kazuma. "No such thing Sasuke... No such thing..." The man finished with a dark, and sinister grin on his face.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: My brother suggested I use Konohamaru's character because Kishimoto rarely uses him at all in the regular storyline. I personally think this was a good chapter and set up for the fight scene when Sasuke's brotherhood of Darkness attacks Konoha. I'm going to loosely base the scene off the part in shippuden where pain literally destroys the village. Sorry for the spoiler but it was bound to happen sometime right? XD Anyway if you REVIEW I know you care!

Peace! - DL555