Chapter Five

In this part of the forest, the trees were far apart, leaving large spaces exposed to the sun and thus allowing for an abundance of smaller plant life. Flowers of a thousand different colours grew in these clearings, sometimes so close together that they hid the forest floor completely, forming a miniature forest of their own for the countless bugs that crawled or flew through the endless fields. It was an amazing sight to behold, one of those hidden pearls of unspoiled, untainted nature that could leave grown men speechless, and whose tranquillity was so intense that it could appease even the most violent of minds.

And yet this was to become a site of battle.

As the dust slowly settled, Naruto stared eagerly at the vague shape in the distance. A thousand thoughts went through his mind, most of them relating directly to the fight that lay ahead. Who was their enemy? Why did they even have one? Was he the same unknown attacker who had lost his kunai in the night before? So many questions, and to none of them he had an answer.

Once we've beaten this guy, I have a lot to talk to him about.

But as the figure ahead gradually became clearer, Naruto became increasingly overcome by a terrible feeling, a feeling any shinobi would immediately recognise. His eyes widened.

What is this... this killer intent? Is that our enemy, who is so eager to harm others? To kill us? I haven't felt such a strong desire for killing in someone since those subordinates of Orochimaru.

A gust of wind blew away the last specks of swirling sand, and their opponent became clearly visible. Hinata gasped, and Naruto stared in disbelief. Neji remained unmoved.

What in the world is going on here?

Their opponent, who was leaning nonchalantly against a tree, appeared to be about the same age as themselves – fifteen, sixteen perhaps. To attribute to such a guy that vicious killer intent and the power to fight three enemies at once was completely ridiculous.

And yet, Naruto had to admit, there is something very odd about him.

The boy was perhaps slightly shorter than Naruto, but not much; his clothing was worn-out and simple, consisting of a loose grey shirt with short sleeves and wide black trousers. The latter reached right up to his shoes, which were open at the front, and they were fitted with elastic at the bottom as to keep them in place. On his hands he wore fingerless gloves of black leather; the one on the right was altered because the hand lacked a little finger. What stood out most about his appearance was without a doubt his face. His hair was over shoulder length, raven black and all brushed to the right side of his head. It hid most of the right half of his face, but when a passing breeze blew it aside for a moment they could clearly see how strange his eyes were. The pupils and irises were black, which was not all that uncommon, but whereas the insides of the eyes were white, the outer halves were a dark grey. The area around the eyes was also coloured black, making the eyes look a lot bigger and in fact giving the boy a slightly crazy expression. A final but perhaps not unimportant detail was that he wore an empty sword sheathe on his back.

He seemed perfectly at ease as he stood there with his arms folded, observing the Konoha shinobi with an amused grin. They stared back in silence, trying to figure out how someone so young could radiate such self-confidence.

"Who are you?" Neji eventually repeated. "I didn't catch your name last time."

The boy looked at him smugly.

"Who's asking?"

"I'm Neji Hyuuga, of Konoha's Noble Family."

He gestured at his companions.

"These are Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki. Now, speak."

"Well, Neji Hyuuga of Konoha, I have no intention of telling you anything about myself. You see, there's really no point."

His grin grew a little wider.

"Because you won't live to tell anyone about me."

"Who do you think you are, talking to us like that?" Naruto suddenly exclaimed. "You're just a kid yourself! We'll kick your ass! You-"

He stopped; the boy had pointed a finger at him.

"Just a word of advice, uh... Uzumaki, was it? Don't underestimate me."

He shot Naruto a friendly smile.

"You'll die."

Naruto exploded.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!"

He charged, but Neji grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back roughly.

"Stay calm, Naruto. We don't know anything about him. Rushing straight at him is the worst thing to do right now. Haven't you changed at all?"

Naruto looked away angrily. The tactical aspects of fighting had always seemed rather boring and useless to him, so whenever Jiraiya had tried to teach him those he had just pretended to understand everything to get it over with as quickly as possible. Sure, he had picked up a few things, and sometimes he could be surprisingly creative in battle, but most of the time he relied on the force of his techniques and his huge amounts of chakra and stamina to win the battle for him, something that didn't match well with people like Neji, who preferred to think as many steps ahead as possible.

Neji turned his attention back to the strange boy.

"Look, we mean you no harm. We're on a simple scouting mission, and if we trespassed on someone's territory by accident then we humbly apologise. If you want, we can move around the area. Would you prefer that?"

The boy stared at him for a moment, then raised his eyebrows in amazement, making his eyes look even bigger and crazier.

"Is that some sort of lame attempt to run away, or are you really that blind?"

He rolled his eyes as Neji didn't respond.

"Fine then. I'll give it to you plain and simple."

He pointed his thumb at his chest.

"I'm Ingou. I've been told to take the lot of you out. I don't care about who you are, why you are here or what you think of me. I'm just doing what I'm good at. No hard feelings."

He stretched his limbs, then continued matter-of-factly:

"There is no escaping from me. You either defeat me or die. But I warn you, I have never been defeated before."

His half-grey eyes observed them carefully.

"And by the looks of it, you're not the strongest I have fought. Not by far."

Neji eyed him cautiously.

"He doesn't seem to take us very seriously," he said softly to the others.

"That's because he's the most arrogant brat ever," Naruto explained. "Let's just take him out quickly and get moving again."

"Don't you get it, Naruto? What he's displaying is not arrogance. It's self-confidence. We've seen attitudes like that before."

He thought for a moment.

"Remember Gaara when we saw him fight for the first time? It's that kind of confidence."

Naruto looked slightly annoyed.

"You mean when a guy is really strong? But Gaara was a Jinchuuriki, like me. This guy isn't."

"Neither was Sasuke, but look at how strong he was."

"He's from the Uchiha clan! It was in his blood."

Neji nodded seriously.

"I think that's the point. Some people can become really strong because of what's in their blood."

"Uh, you lost me there."

"Neji-nii-san," Hinata said quietly, "do you mean he might have a Bloodline Limit?"

Her cousin nodded.

"Exactly. Bloodline Limits can pop up in unexpected places, and they can be extremely powerful. The ones gifted with these talents usually learn to use them at a very young age, and once they grow up they become much stronger than regular shinobi."

I know that, Naruto thought sadly. I found that out a long time ago, fighting that guy called Haku… Sasuke and I didn't stand a chance against his Bloodline Limit back then. I had to use the fox's power to beat him, but I don't want to have to use that here. To be honest, I don't want to have to use that hated chakra ever again, but I keep getting into situations where I have no choice.

But this guy... to be so confident even when he's outnumbered, he must be very dangerous. Or could he just be underestimating us? Of course, he has never fought a Hyuuga before, and Neji is incredibly talented even for the standards of his clan. And I'm not just anybody either. This guy just doesn't know what he has gotten himself into!

The thought cheered him up a bit. Even if their opponent had a Bloodline Limit, that didn't mean he was invincible. Defeating him should be easy if they all gave it their best.

Neji followed his gaze and also looked at the boy, who was waiting impatiently.

"It looks like we have no choice. He's determined to fight. Just keep in mind that we have to be careful. Hinata, stay back a little if at all possible. Don't hesitate if it seems like we need your help, but try to avoid straining yourself too much. Your condition is not good enough for an all-out fight right now."

Hinata nodded, but deep inside she secretly hoped for a chance to show Naruto she could be strong as well.

Just give me an opportunity to help him when he really needs it, to save him when he's in danger. I will do anything to be acknowledged by you, Naruto! Just watch me!

Neji activated his Byakugan again.

"Let's do this."

Naruto smiled.

"Alright!"

He brought his hands together in the right seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

A loud poof, a lot of smoke, and then there were five Narutos, all completely identical except for the fact that only one was of flesh and blood. Naruto pointed at Ingou.

"Okay team, that arrogant kid there is your target! Go beat him up!"

Four voices cheered, and then the clones sprinted towards their enemy, who eyed them lazily. They spread out, surrounded their target, then charged from four sides. Ingou reached over his shoulder with his left hand, and smiled.

With one sweeping movement of his arm he blasted back all of the clones, who fell on the ground and disappeared in clouds of smoke, which spread out and hid Ingou from view completely.

"What happened?" stammered Naruto.

"I don't know," Neji had to admit. "As far as I can see, he never even touched them."

Suddenly they heard laughter, and then Ingou jumped out of the smoke, threw a handful of shuriken at Neji in mid-air, and landed right in front of Naruto, who took a step back in surprise.

He's fast!

The boy swung his right fist at him, but he missed by at least a foot's distance. Naruto smiled.

"You'll have to do better than that!"

"Okay," replied Ingou happily.

He took a step forward and struck with his left hand, but Naruto stepped out of reach easily.

"You have to learn how to ai-"

Then he suddenly let out a scream of pain and fell backwards on the ground, clutching his right shoulder. Blood was flowing through his fingers.

"How the hell?!"

Ingou grinned, but then Neji was behind him and he was forced to duck as the Hyuuga's foot swept over his head, missing only by an inch or two. Neji turned, brought his foot around once more, this time at ground level, but Ingou used his hands to catapult himself forward, spun around in the air, quickly formed some seals, and brought his hand to his mouth.

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Naruto managed to jump away just in time. The flames hit the ground with a terrible noise and rose up from there, filling the world with heat and the smell of ashes.

Fire element?

He steadied himself and tried to peer through the thick smoke.

Did Neji get out in time?

Then Ingou jumped out of the smoke, followed closely by Neji, and they landed on the soft moss without even once averting their gaze from each other, locked in a complicated dance of fists and feet in which one mistake could mean the end – especially for Ingou.

And indeed, the attacks seemed to be coming from Neji's side only, whereas Ingou had to use all his skill to dodge the lightning-fast strikes. But even in those straitened circumstances, he still grinned like crazy, enjoying the danger and the thrill of battle.

Naruto looked for an opening, for a chance to join in, but he couldn't risk disturbing the flow of Neji's moves, and so the dance went on, increasing in speed as Neji gave it all he had. Every attack was a near hit, but Ingou avoided them all, twisting and turning, ducking, rolling over and jumping away with unrivalled speed and agility. And then suddenly the fight was broken off, and Neji jumped back and landed between Naruto and Hinata, panting and sweating.

"This guy…" he eventually managed to say, "is not a normal opponent."

Naruto looked at Ingou, who had taken up a safe position up in a tree. He seemed just as tired as Neji, but equally unharmed.

"You didn't hit him even once?"

"No. He dodges amazingly fast, as if he sees all my moves coming. But that's impossible. The Gentle Fist Style is unlike any other hand-to-hand combat type. And yet… he has not even tried to block a single one of my attacks."

Ingou laughed from the relative safety of his tree.

"My, my, you guys look so confused. I know what you are thinking, you know. So let me tell you a secret."

He lowered his voice a bit.

"I know all about your fighting style, Neji Hyuuga. Every detail."

Neji frowned.

"Impossible. The Juuken is a well-guarded secret within Ko-"

"You want proof?" interrupted Ingou. "I'd love to tell you. Where do I even start…"

He thought for a moment, then started rattling as if he was reading from an encyclopaedia.

"The Juuken style, or Gentle Fist, is a melee combat style employed only by the Hyuuga family. The Hyuugas use their Byakugan eyes to see their opponent's chakra circulation system, and then use their own chakra to damage that system. Therefore, they don't have to hit with much strength – touching their opponent is enough to do damage. Some of the more talented Hyuugas-" he bowed mockingly to Neji, "-can even see the chakra points of their enemy, and if they manage to take out the most important of these points the victim can no longer use chakra, leaving them completely helpless."
He grinned.

"Well, how's that? Good summary?"

Neji looked more troubled than Naruto had ever seen him before.

"This is bad. That knowledge gives him a huge advantage over both me and you, Hinata. Naruto, how is your shoulder?"

Naruto winced.

"I'll manage, but I don't know how he managed to cut me, and a few more hits like that and I'm out."

"I saw what happened," said Hinata softly.

Neji shot her a surprised look, but she forced herself to continue.

"I-it's true that his hand missed, but... the position of his hand was odd, as if... as if..."

Neji was the first to understand.

"As if he was holding something? A weapon, perhaps?"

"Yes, like that... only, there was no weapon..."

She glimpsed up at Ingou, who was watching them amusedly. When he saw her looking, he waved and stuck out his tongue at her. She blushed and quickly looked away.

What a weird person is he... he looks harmless as he sits there. He's just a child, like ourselves, only... there is a wildness in his eyes that is both a calculating coldness and a fiery cruelty. And we have to defeat him. Why do we always have to fight?

"Well, that cut is real enough," Neji eventually decided. "And if the injury is real, so is the weapon, whether we can see it or not. It would explain why he carries a seemingly empty sword sheathe around."

Naruto was still puzzled.

"But even if we know that, how can we defend against something we can't see?"

"That's easy," Neji reassured him. "Gai-sensei explained this to us many times. The theory is simply, but efficient. It goes as follows: If there is a part of your enemy you cannot see for whatever reason, then focus on what you can see."

"That's brilliant!" Naruto cheered. "What does it mean?"

Neji and Hinata exchanged glances.

"Naruto, it's really rather obvious," Neji explained eventually. "We can't see the sword, but we can see his hands. If we look at the position of his hands, we can determine the position of the weapon. It's that simple."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, I get it. Leave it to me. I'll take this guy down."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Neji said with a frown. "You're already wounded, and he's too strong to take down alone."

"He's not that tough. He just surprised me last time. Besides, he can read your attacks, remember? But he can't read mine, so it's best if I fight him."

"You're definitely... hard to predict," admitted Neji. "Okay, you can give it a shot, but if it doesn't work we step in immediately."

"That won't be necessary. Trust me."

Naruto took a few steps forward, then yelled:

"Alright! You want to do this or are you too scared?"

Ingou laughed.

"Hey, I don't send clones in to do the dirty work for me, you know?"

He stood up on his branch, stretched out and yawned.

"I was just thinking, if there would be a strategy that consisted of trying to bore your opponent to death, you guys would be professionals. If you're too afraid to fight me you can just say so, you know?"

He jumped down from his tree, rolled over as he hit the ground and charged straight at them. Naruto watched his hands carefully, and now he could see what Hinata meant. His left hand was seemingly formed like a fist, but the fingers didn't touch each other – that had to be where he was holding the sword. Naruto fished a kunai out of his pouch.

This is going to be really tricky.

Ingou was very close now. The boy swung his left hand forward...

A loud clang followed, and then Naruto and Ingou stood still, kunai locked against invisible sword, each trying with all their strength to push the other away.

"You didn't see that coming, did you?" Naruto said through gritted teeth.

Ingou grinned.

"You're one to talk... you're so oblivious you already got wounded several times."

He tried to hit Naruto with his free hand, but Naruto grabbed his wrist and held that tightly as well.

"Idiot," he said. "You're too confident. I only got hit once, and it was a lucky strike."

Ingou raised his eyebrows.

"Only once? My bad."

In a flash he brought his foot upwards and kicked Naruto's left shoulder, then pulled his arm free and smacked his fist against Naruto's jaw. The contact between their weapons broke, and Ingou struck upwards with his sword, but Naruto dropped himself backwards and managed to avoid most of the hit. Still, it left a deep gash across his chest, and the pain was so intense that he almost blacked out.

"There, now it's more than once," he heard Ingou say, followed by Neji's agitated voice:

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

He opened his eyes just in time to see Ingou being blasted away towards one of the bigger trees, but instead of crashing into it the boy stabilised himself in the air and landed gently on the bark, then started running towards the top, meanwhile avoiding the several kunai Neji threw at him.

He's going to attack from above. I have to get up!

He tried to stand, but his limbs had gone numb with pain, and he couldn't control his muscles properly.

This is bad!

Ingou reached the top of the tree, launched himself backwards into the air and, while hanging upside down in nothingness, formed a sequence of seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!"

Dozens of fireballs were blasted downwards in a rain of deadly heat, towards Naruto who was still struggling to get up.

I won't make it in time!

But then Hinata was next to him, looking pale and worried but determined as well.

"Please hold on to me, Naruto-kun!"

Gratefully, he rested his arm on her shoulders, and she jumped away, mere moments before the technique hit the ground. The earth shook under the force of the hellish barrage, and Naruto and Hinata were hit by the shockwave and thrown onto the ground. The heat washed over them like an overly thick blanket, uncomfortably warm and taking their breath away.

Through a half-opened eye Naruto could just see that the flames rose up high, higher than normal flames, and formed a rough circle around where they were lying.

Another technique? I've never seen this before, not even from Sasuke...

The fire now raged everywhere around them, only a few feet away, but it did not approach; instead, the flames, undoubtedly controlled and morphed by chakra, bent closer and closer together at the top, and eventually touched each other directly above the pair of ninja, forming a dome of fire that was completely impenetrable. As they merged, they suddenly increased in power and heat, forcing Naruto and Hinata to huddle closer together, their muscles tense, their lungs filled with hot air and their eyes closed against the blinding light that spanned their tiny horizon.

Neji, now we can't help you at all, Naruto thought miserably. Hang in there... we'll get to you as soon as we can!

An age seemed to have passed when the technique around them finally weakened, at least to the extent that they could breathe normally again.
Naruto carefully opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was Hinata, who was lying directly next to him, her face just a few inches from his, her eyes closed tightly. His arm was still on her shoulders. Naruto suddenly felt his heart go crazy in his chest, and in spite of the danger around them, the awkward position, and anything he told himself was ridiculous, he couldn't get himself to move. He just wanted to lie there, admiring her delicate face, her small nose and her dark hair, and, though a voice in the back of his head told him he was crazy, he slowly moved his face closer to hers...

She opened her eyes, saw how close he was, and almost, almost started to smile. But then her eyes widened in shock, all colour vanished from her face, and her expression changed completely, turning into one of pure and utter fear. She tried to speak, but though her mouth moved she couldn't produce a single sound, stunned as she was by an unknown terror.

Then Naruto realised what had her so frightened. But he realised too late.

The invisible sword penetrated his arm with immense force, cutting through its flesh and muscles and nailing it firmly to the ground. Naruto screamed. And he kept screaming, unable to do anything else in a world that consisted only of pain, a pain worse than anything he had felt before, a pain so intense it left no room for thoughts of any kind. The smell of scorched flesh filled his nostrils, and he could feel his consciousness slipping away, could feel it dwindle and dissolve in that all-consuming pain. The world faded away.

Hinata was in shock. Her mind was unable to grasp what had just happened. She couldn't stand up, couldn't move at all. She stared at Naruto's unconscious face as if in a trance.

N-naruto... k-kun...? Are you... sleeping? Was this all a bad dream again, and did I just wake up next to you? Just like before? Then I can put my hand on your hair... and in a minute you'll wake up, and I can tell you about the crazy dream I had... please, please let me wake up now!

But no matter how hard she wished, the images refused to disappear. In fact, as the initial shock started to wear off and the numbness made place for insurmountable terror, her mind started buzzing with all the little details she tried not to notice. The odd position of Naruto's arm. The earth below it, that was gradually turning red.

The shape looming over them, wearing a grin, observing her curiously.

Hinata's heart grew cold with fear.

No! Keep away from me! Please go away!

Ingou dispelled the fire technique with a simple gesture, then kneeled down, slowly reached out and grabbed something just above Naruto's arm. He moved his hand upwards, pulling the invisible sword out of the pierced biceps, and put it back in its sheathe. Then he turned his attention to Hinata. The malicious, half-grey eyes stared into the frightened white ones.

"You look shocked, girl. You didn't like what I did to your friend?"

He sighed.

"So naive, all of you. You Konoha ninja, who grew up in peace and safety. You think being a ninja is about helping people? About working hard and becoming stronger? About bringing peace, perhaps?"

He reached back, grabbed a kunai knife, then showed it to Hinata.

"It is about none of those things. Being a ninja is about fighting, and killing. Or being killed. That other Hyuuga already found that out, and now it's this guy's turn."

He moved the kunai to Naruto's throat. Hinata gasped.

"D-don't!"

Ingou raised his eyebrows.

"No? Shouldn't I? Should I perhaps spare him, because you care about him? Is that it? Would you ask me to kill you instead of him?"

Hinata couldn't speak. Tears were rolling down her face, and her throat was clogged up with fear. But she nodded, nodded desperately, even though she knew it wouldn't matter anymore. And indeed, Ingou sighed again.

"That is nice. That is... noble of you. But you know..."

His expression hardened.

"You knew what you were getting into. I defeated you, and now it is my right to kill you. If you're too weak and scared to stop me, then you should never have chosen to walk the path of the shinobi. Because that always ends the same. It ends here."

He pressed the kunai closer against Naruto's skin. A drop of blood welled up. And in Hinata's mind, something snapped.

"Juuken!" she yelled, and in a flash she slammed her palm into Ingou's chest, catching him completely off guard. He cursed, pushed her arm away, and slapped her in the face with the back of his hand.

"You bitch!"

She fell to the ground, her cheek red, her face covered in tears. Ingou stood up, but then groaned, staggered, and sank back on one knee, damaged internally by the force of Hinata's chakra. He grabbed his sword again.

"You'll pay for that! No more delays!"

He swung the sword down, towards Hinata's helpless shape. She didn't even try to avoid or deflect it.

I have failed... I still can't protect anyone... even though I tried so hard, for so long... I'm still useless... I can't help the ones I love. I deserve to die...

She closed her eyes and waited for the strike that would end it all.

It never came.

Seconds went by.

She opened her eyes. In front of her, like an intervention by some higher power, sat Neji. He was worn-out and scratched in several places, but not seriously injured. The invisible blade he had caught between his palms, a move so dangerous and reckless that it was generally considered suicide; if the sword had been brought down with more force, it would have cracked his skull.

Ingou hissed between his teeth.

"You! I thought I'd taken care of you?"

Neji stared at him coldly.

"I have taken a vow never to be beaten in battle again. I am not going to break that vow here, fighting a brat like you!"

He pushed the sword aside, then brought his foot around in a lightning-fast arc that ended in a cracking noise as he hit Ingou full in the face, blasting him away from Naruto and Hinata. Ingou stabilised and landed on his hands, but Neji kicked him in his back, smacking the air out of his lungs and sending him into a painful slide over the hard ground. Ingou seemed to realise he had lost control of the battle, because he quickly brought his hands together.

"Fire Release, Poisonous Ash Cloud!"

He breathed in deeply, then exuded a huge cloud of thick smoke, which hid him from view completely. Neji had no choice but to stop the pursuit; breathing in any of that smoke would mean the end. He gazed at the cloud for a moment, then turned around and ran back to the others.

Hinata sat next to Naruto, her face still wet with tears she hadn't bothered to wipe away. Her hand lay on his hair.

"Naruto-kun..."

Neji kneeled down as well, saw how badly Naruto's arm was ravaged, and made a decision. He fished a scroll from his pouch, opened it, and spread it out next to Naruto. Hinata looked up, a spark of hope in her eyes.

"W-what are you..."

"It's a healing scroll," Neji explained quickly while he wrote something down in the centre of the scroll, the only part that was not covered in writings and symbols.

"Tsunade-sama is the only one who can make them. It basically contains a part of her chakra, and when released it can heal almost any wound. It works just like the seal she carries on her forehead."

"Just like that seal?" Hinata stammered. "But then... for her..."

Neji nodded.

"Yes, in making these scrolls she shortens her own lifespan. We were allowed to bring one because we don't have a healer on our team, and it is only meant for emergencies."

He finished writing, then rolled up Naruto's sleeve, making the horrible injury visible.

"If we don't treat this Naruto will lose his arm, perhaps even die. I call that en emergency."

He brought his hands together in a focus seal.

"Ninja Art, Scroll of Healing!"

Purple threads spread out from the ink on the scroll, wriggled, then lifted themselves off the paper like snakes out of a basket. They seemed to orientate themselves for a moment before suddenly lunging and wrapping themselves around Naruto's arm, forming strange figures around the wounded area. When they were all in place, they lit up brightly, and Hinata could feel the chakra they emitted, a warm, good type of chakra. And just like that, where at first a gaping hole had sat, was now normal skin, still covered in dried-up blood but undamaged.

Naruto's eyelids fluttered briefly, and then he was conscious again. He sat up straight, a bit confused, but before he could ask anything Hinata suddenly hugged him, so tightly that it almost hurt.

"Naruto-kun!" she sniffed, her head on his shoulder, tears of relief running down her face.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Hinata?" he asked dazedly. "What... what's going on?"

Neji rolled up the now empty scroll and put it back in his pouch.

"Hinata-sama, we don't have time for this. Our enemy can strike again any moment. If we don't work as a team from here on out, we won't make it."

Hinata hesitatingly let go of Naruto, sniffed and wiped the tears off her face. Naruto looked at her, then nodded.

"We'll get that guy," he said softly. "I promise we will."

"So you say," interrupted Neji, "but so far we have hardly done any damage to him. Fortunately, I have learned some interesting things while I fought him right after you two were blasted away."

"What kind of things?" urged Naruto. "It took a few minutes before he got to us... you were fighting him all that time?"

"Yes. He lured me away from you first, but since I was fighting him I thought you would be safe. Clearly, I was wrong. But as I said, I didn't fight him in vain. I'll briefly tell you what I've noticed."

He grabbed the empty scroll again, and used it to take notes while he was informing the others, who both listened intently now; Naruto with a determined look on his face and Hinata with a relieved one, though her eyes were still red with crying.

"First of all, it is not just that sword that's invisible. He has thrown invisible kunai at me as well – even with my Byakugan, I could not see them coming, and I've been scratched several times. However – and this is important – once these kunai had passed me and struck trees or the ground, they became visible again."

Naruto frowned.

"Then they're not completely the same. That sword is always invisible."

"Indeed. I suspect the sword is special, as it is his main weapon, but he can make other objects invisible as well, and even himself. That's how he got managed to keep me occupied."

"Himself?"

Naruto was astonished.

What kind of guy are we dealing with here? How can you fight someone if you can't see him?

"Yes. He turned invisible, created a clone which was also invisible, then let the clone fight me while he went after you two. I only figured it out just in time..."

Hinata hesitated.

"B-but... with the Byakugan..."

"That is what I thought at first as well. But I was wrong."

Neji seemed annoyed at being reminded about the failure of his own technique.

"Somehow, he has found a way to cloak his chakra. Perhaps he suppresses up to the point where it is no longer visible. I don't know. The result is that even the Byakugan can't see him. It's a perfect way to hide."

He lowered his voice.

"Imagine the possibilities of such a technique. As far as we know, he could be sitting next to us right now."

A cold breeze blew past them. Hinata shivered, and Naruto suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He could imagine very well what such a technique meant. It meant their opponent was the perfect spy. How long had he been following them already? Had he sat around the fire with them, enjoying their obliviousness with that amused grin of his? Had he eavesdropped on all their conversations? No wonder Neji had not seen anyone when he had looked around with his Byakugan.

What an insane ability.

Neji seemed to have read his thoughts.

"Don't worry too much about it. Such powerful techniques do not come cheaply. I am sure that it requires a large amount of chakra for him to remain invisible. That explains why he doesn't use it constantly."

He made some more notes, and added all sorts of arrows and cross-references to indicate intricate connections between them.

"There is one more thing," he said eventually.

He held up his right hand for the others to see. Hinata gasped. The palm of the hand was covered in burn marks, not very severe ones but great in number.

"This is what happened one of the few times I managed to hit him. There was some sort of barrier around him which was extremely hot, and prevented me from doing any damage with the Juuken."

Naruto growled in frustration.

"This is insane! How many powerful techniques does that bastard have?"

Neji ignored him; he was staring at his own palm, deep in thought. Naruto turned his rant to Hinata instead.

"So what we have is an invisible guy with invisible weapons and powerful fire techniques, who is pretty much resistant against every attack a Hyuuga could make?"

Hinata looked away unhappily. Naruto was right. No wonder Ingou had no trouble taking them on in a three to one fight. He outmatched them on every level.

Maybe it would be best if we just tried to run away. There is no honour in that, but at least we will all survive.

Naruto angrily punched the ground with his fist.

"To think that even now, we can't beat someone like that... I haven't even had a chance to use my own techniques yet. He's just too fast! How can we get to him? Do we even have a chance?"

"Yes," said Neji.

They looked at him in surprise. He finished writing on the scroll, then read it over once more and handed it to them with something of a satisfied expression.

"I think I just found the opening we need."

***

Ingou sped through the forest, jumping from tree to tree to move as quickly as possible. The fighting and the use of his special techniques had drained much of his energy, too much, and now he relied on the energy boost of a soldier pill to keep him going. He had to finish the fight before its effects were over, or he'd be done for.

This fight has been drawn out way too long. I should have fought to kill from the start instead of messing around. But I hadn't thought they would be this persistent. Especially that Hyuuga guy, he's the strongest by far. But from here on out it should be easy. One is down, and that girl is as good as worthless in combat. I'll finish them quickly.

He had not retreated far into the woods, just far enough to check on his own injuries and consume that soldier pill. It didn't take him long to get back. When he approached the site of their battle he stopped, hesitated, then decided to put safety first. He closed his eyes in concentration.

"Secret Technique, Chameleon Skin," he said softly.

He felt his chakra form a haze on his body and clothes, covering him on all sides and bending the light around him.

Perfect invisibility, he mused. If only it didn't consume such a huge amount of chakra, I would stay like this forever. Nobody would bother me, and I could get away with anything. Ah, but those are dreams of the past. I have work to do.

He jumped down to the ground, ran a short way, and saw his opponents. As he had expected, they had not dared to move their friend in the condition he was in. It seemed the boy had not regained consciousness yet.

And he never will, if it's up to me. That's what you get for calling me a bastard.

Next to him sat the girl, who was trying to treat the wound, even though it was obviously a lost cause. The other Hyuuga, the squad leader, stood closest to Ingou but was watching the other two, leaving himself wide open for an attack from behind.

Perfect. This is going to be even easier than I expected.

He grabbed a kunai, then calmly walked up to Neji, and with unmatched timing twisted Neji's arm behind his back while pressing the knife against his throat at the same time.

"Boo," he said softly.

Neji cursed, but couldn't pull himself free. Hinata looked up, and was about to make a move when Ingou twisted Neji's arm a bit further, causing him to gasp with pain.

"Don't even think about it. One wrong movement and I kill this guy right now."

Hinata sank back on the ground, but Ingou saw there was something strange about her.

She's not scared like before, he realised. There's something else now... anger? Calculation? Why?

Neji let out something of a humourless laugh.

"This is... ironic," he said with some difficulty. "Just when we... had you figured out."

Ingou snickered incredulously.

"Really? I doubt that. Nobody I fought has ever 'figured me out'. But hey, enlighten me. The longer you talk, the longer you live."

"It's light," Neji said softly. "It's all light. All of it."

Ingou was taken aback.

"Well, I'll be damned. You really are something different. Explain what you mean, and do it quickly. My hand starts trembling if I get tired."

Neji swallowed.

"When you first attacked, you used a flash of light to blind us. But you never used that since then, so that technique must take a while to charge. Am I right?"

"Go on."

He continued, speaking faster and more clearly now.

"The invisibility... it's light being bent around objects. It's the only true form of invisibility. The sword must be so infused with your chakra it remains invisible on its own. I once knew a guy who had sand infused with his own chakra – it's the same idea. Then... your defence, the barrier. It's light being changed into heat and energy to protect you from the Juuken."

Ingou listened intently. He had never expected his moves to be analysed and understood so quickly. A valuable lesson for the future, of course. But right now, it made no difference any more. The fight was over.

"I'm impressed. That is a very accurate-"

"I'm not done yet," continued Neji. "What you do with light, it is your Bloodline Limit, isn't it? You take light, and you manipulate it to fit your own needs. Shape manipulation allows for invisibility, nature manipulation can create brighter or hotter light. But there's a weakness."

Ingou's eyes widened.

"What did you say?"

"That weakness is that you cannot use both types of manipulation at the same time. When looking back on your fighting style, I noticed that you blocked my first hit with your barrier, but didn't use it when I hit you a second time. That was right before you turned invisible. Also, you threw invisible kunai at first, but around the time you used that barrier you threw normal ones. So you cannot use both at the same time, and there is a short interval between you switching from one type of manipulation to the other. Am I right?"

What followed was silence. When Ingou finally responded his voice was filled with malice.

"Fine. Great. You figured it all out. You read me like a goddamned book, are you happy now? But let me tell you one final thing. Something even you apparently failed to notice."

He pressed the kunai closer to Neji's throat again, and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"It's all useless. Because there's not a damn thing you can do with that information right now. Anything you have to say to that? Any... last words?"

"Only... only this."

"What?"

Neji grinned.

"You really are... a bastard..."

And then he exploded in a cloud of smoke, which took Ingou completely by surprise.

"What the hell?" He couldn't see anything around him anymore, but he knew with perfect clarity that things looked really bad.

I have to get out... I'm still invisible, I have to run and rethink this!

But suddenly Hinata blasted through the smoke, her eyes blazing with pent-up determination and her hand aimed directly at his chest. There was no time to avoid or deflect.

"Juuken!"

Ingou growled as he felt the familiar pain in his chest, but that was not the worst; Hinata's chakra had disturbed his own, and the haze that covered him was unbalanced and cancelled.

"No!"

He panicked, turned around and ran, but before he had taken five steps the real Neji landed in front of him, in a stance that Ingou recognised well. He knew what it meant for him, and stopped running.

"You can't use your barrier yet," stated Neji calmly. "This fight is over."

Ingou sighed, nodded helplessly, and spat on the ground.

"Bring it on then, fucker."

Neji's eyes narrowed.

"Sixty-four Points of Divinity! Two points!"

He stepped towards Ingou elegantly and connected with both his index fingers. Where they touched – in his left shoulder and his right side – Ingou felt a stabbing pain, that seemed to hit deep beneath the skin. He tried in vain to fight it off.

Neji spun around.

"Four points!"

A double hit, four knives that were twisted around in Ingou's skin.

"Eight points! Sixteen points! Thirty-two points!"

A flurry of strikes, every single one causing a red hot pain. Ingou staggered backwards under the force of the strikes, his eyes closed, his teeth clenched, desperately waiting for it to end.

"Sixty-four strikes!"

A wave of pain flushed over him, spreading out through every vein in his body, putting his bones and muscles on fire and only getting worse and worse. He wanted it to be over – shouldn't it be over by now? – but the pain only increased, and kept increasing until it became too much to bear, and then he passed out and fell backwards on the forest floor, powerless and utterly defeated.

The Konoha shinobi gathered around him. Naruto stared at him sourly.

"Why couldn't I just use Rasengan on him? I wanted to help, you know, but now you two got all the fun."

Neji shrugged.

"I thought you did an excellent job playing the role of unconscious, wounded ninja."

Hinata smiled. Immense relief filled her heart, and everything suddenly seemed twice as funny as before.

"Ah, and we c-couldn't have done it without your clone, Naruto-kun... You distracted him very well..."

Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, I know, right? I think I was a really good Neji, to be honest."

He looked around. The sun was still shining brightly, and the birds were singing as if nothing had happened. There were still some hours left in the day. If they travelled quickly they could make up for the lost time with ease. They could do that. Technically.

He looked at Neji.

"So...?"

Neji looked from Naruto to Hinata and back, then gave in.

"We'll tie him up, then make camp here. I think we could all use some rest right now."

"Alright!" cheered Naruto.

Hinata nodded happily. She just wanted to put this day behind her as soon as possible. All the emotions – the fear, the anger, the helplessness – had drained her completely. She didn't feel dizzy or sick, but she was a bit light-headed, and very tired. She wanted to sleep, to lie next to Naruto again, this time in safety and peace.

It didn't take long to set up the tent, and even though the afternoon was only just over Hinata wolfed down her meal, wished the others goodnight and stretched out on her hard sleeping mat. When she closed her eyes, images of that day started flashing by, some of them terrible to watch, but eventually the one image that stuck in her mind was that of Naruto, smiling, slowly moving his face closer to her.

She sleepily smiled to herself. Who knew what the next day would bring?

Outside, Neji and Naruto watched the sun slowly descend. They didn't talk much, even though they had a thousand questions on their mind. Naruto kept thinking about Hinata. She had not pulled away from him earlier. Did that mean anything or had she just been too confused to realise what was going on? How could he find out?

Just ask her, you idiot! It's that easy! All you have to do is go up to her and... ask her. Ask her what? How do you go about such a thing?

He glimpsed at Neji. The Hyuuga was of course a year older, so he might have some more experience in dealing with girls.

Maybe he can help me... but he's still Hinata's cousin. I'll have to be very subtle about this.

"Ah, um, Neji!"

Neji turned his head and looked at him quizzically.

"Yes?"

"Um, Hinata did really well today, don't you think?" Naruto asked lamely.

Neji's gaze suddenly became very cold, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Is there any specific reason you ask this, Naruto?"

"D-don't stare at me like that... no, I was just... um... actually, never mind, okay?"

"Good."

Neji stood up and entered the tent without giving Naruto a second glance.

What was that all about? Naruto wondered. Oh well. Probably just one of his weird streaks.

He waited for a few minutes, then went in as well. He took of his vest, carefully put himself down in between the Hyuugas and buried himself deep in his sleeping bag. He looked sideways at Hinata, who was already slumbering peacefully. Her hand peeked out from below her blanket. Naruto hesitated, then reached out, very gently stroked her soft skin, and put her hand in his own.

Hinata. You have suddenly become... a very special person to me. So please, please acknowledge me. Just one more time. I need you.