Athor's Note – I don't own Naruto. Does anyone seriously think that I do?

.

Chapter Thirty-Three – Confrontation

.

(((()

.

"So." Orochimaru said slowly, holding up his stump, showing that his arm now ended at the elbow. "Have you decided yet, Tsunade?"

Tsunade glared at Orochimaru, then looked at the silver-haired man and the red-haired woman flanking him. The silver-haired man smirked.

"I think that she's decided against helping, sir."

"I see." Orochimaru said. "It's a good thing I learned how to fight left-handed. I may be reduced in power, but even with my handicap, me and my two apprentices against one washed-out bitch of a sannin? I don't think this fight will last very long."

As if in response to Orochimaru's comment, a massive massed roar shook the air and a dozen white shapes raced up the hill towards them, coming to a stop beside Tsunade and unleashing a caophany of snarls and roars. Jiraiya, Shizune and Hinata dropped down from the tigers and Orochimaru raised one eyebrow.

"So, the Slug Princess called for help, and from the Toad Sage no 's been a long time, Jiraiya."

"Orochimaru." Jiraiya said curtly. "Who are your lackeys?"

"I don't know the red-head, but the man's called Kabuto." Hinata stated. "He was a genin during the chunin exams, but I think it must have been a trick."

"Oh, my, yes." Kabuto said with a smile as he adjusted his glasses. "I'm far more than a Genin. Nowhere near my master's level, of course, but definitely above yours."

"Hinata." Jiraiya said, "We're likely to be using summons, so we'll need some space. I don't know anything about the red-head's skills, but from how they stand, they've probably got some med-nin training, making them very dangerous."

"I know." Hinata said, her hands flashing through a series of seals. "That's why I'm doing this. Secret Technique Tiger Warrior!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened as the smoke cleared to reveal Hinata had transformed into a two-meter-tall bipedal tiger.

"That… is a very interesting technique." He said slowly. "I tried to come up with something similar, but I could never get it to work right, it tended to kill the subjects. I think we need to take you alive. Kabuto?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said as he started to circle round. Hinata started to stalk towards him, followed by Kyouka and two of the other tigers.

"Shizune can die for all I care." Orochimaru said with a shrug. "Karin?"

"As you wish, Lord Orochimaru." The redhead replied and Shizune growled, then found herself flanked by two of the Great tigers with a third one behind her. One of them winked at her, then returned its attention to the approaching woman.

"And now that the children are out of the way," Orochimaru grinned as he pulled out a Kunai and cut his right arm, smearing the blood over a tattoo on his left arm, "Kuchyose no Jutsu!"

.

(((()

.

Ignoring the battle between the Sannin, Hinata stalked towards Kabuto, then paused.

"Chakra scalpels." She noted and Kabuto frowned for a second, then his eyes met hers.

"How wonderful, you have the full Byakugan even in that form." He noted cheerfully. "Well, this certainly complicates things somewhat for me. I know how to bypass the Byakugan, but your… new form means that I'm no longer certain exactly where your internal organs are. This will be quite a fight."

Hinata growled and flexed her fingers, extending her claws. Lowering her stance, she flowed forwards a few paces, then grabbed her dagger and threw it at Kabuto, who dodged it nonchalantly.

"That was almost disappointing." He said, then his eyes widened as the dagger reappeared in Hinata's hand, quickly glancing back at where the dagger had landed, and now no longer was. "But that is very interesting indeed."

As he finished his sentence, he leapt forwards, chakra needles extending from his fingers and Hinata reacted with a fast sequence of hand-seals.

Tiger, Horse, Boar, Ram, Rat, Snake.

Kabuto's eyes widened in pain and he leapt back, leaving a trail of blood. Hinata's fur reverted from its sudden transformation into steel-strong needles and Kabuto looked down at his hands, noting the rips and holes in them which were healing.

"I guess that means that close-in fighting has suddenly become a great deal harder against you." He noted almost conversationally. Hinata grinned almost ferally, her fangs glinting, then she lifted her arm, revealing that not all the fur had reverted.

"Needle Hell."

Kabuto somersaulted out of the way of the sudden barrage of senbon-like hair.

"Offensive and defensive capabilities from the same basic Jutsu." He mused. "This fight is getting harder and harder. But if I can't get at you that easily…"

Kabuto lunged at Kyouka…

…who snarled as she used a version of Needle Jizo that Hinata was certain she hadn't taught her. With a curse, Kabuto retreated to a safe distance, nursing his re-injured hand.

"This is getting mildly annoying." He muttered, pulling out some senbon. Throwing them at Kyouka, he blinked as they bounced off her fur.

"What… how did…?"

Hinata glanced at Kyouka for an explanation.

'Needle Jizu varient. Not very difficult, but needs concentration. I'll teach you later.'

"Oh, this is just getting ridiculous." Kabuto sighed. "I'd almost rather face a Jinchuuriki."

"Done that. Defeated him with a single attack." Hinata smirked and Kabuto sighed.

"Of course you have. Just once, I would like an easy opponant."

.

(((()

.

"Those cats of yours have a lot of chakra." Karin noted as she strode towards Shizune. "How well can you fight with them?"

"First time." Shizune shrugged. "I have no idea what they can do, so I think I'll concentrate on healing them while they take you down."

Karin stopped in her tracks. "What?"

Black eyes met red for a moment and Shizune smiled.

"I'd only slow them down." Shizune explained, then she frowned as one of the tigers unleashed a barrage of growls and coughs.

"What was that about?" Karin asked.

.

(((()

.

Hinata leapt away from Kabuto as she heard the message. Spinning round, she cupped both hands around her mouth and prepared to shout.

.

(((()

.

"Shizune! She's an Uzumaki!"

Both Shizune and Karin turned to stare at the fight between Kabuto and Hinata, then Shizune turned back.

"An Uzumaki? Are you sure?"

The tiger nodded and Karin frowned.

"So what's so great about that?"

"The clan is being rebuilt in Konoha." Shizune said slowly. "New plan, take her alive and as undamaged as possible, I feel sure that this Honoka that Hinata told me about will want to meet her."

"Honoka?" Karin gasped. "She's… alive?"

"Clan head in Konoha, according to Hinata." Shizune said. "Why?"

"Honoka-neesan's alive?" Karin whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "She's alive? I thought she was dead! It's been so long… Tell me about her!"

"I only know a little bit, from Hinata. Hinata's one of Honoka's friends, she can tell you." Shizune said and Karin nodded.

"If it means I get to see Honoka-neesan again, I surrender." Karin said sitting down. One of the tigers walked up to her and thrust its head under her hand, causing Karin to giggle as she started to stroke the tiger.

"I… recognise the tiger, my mother told me stories…" Karen mused. "Are the… what in Kami's name were they called… aha, the Gokatora clan allied to Konoha as well?"

"I don't know." Shizune admitted as she sat down and leaned back against the tiger that had curled up behind her. "You'll have to ask Hinata."

"Honoka-neesan's alive…" Karin whispered, smiling through her tears.

.

(((()

.

The flames died down to reveal that Manda had shed his burning skin. Jiraiya looked round in confusion.

'Manda's as big as Gamabunta, but there's nowhere to hide except… oh hell!'

"'Bunta, jump!"

Gamabunta leapt up into the air as Manda erupted out of the ground beneath him, jaws slamming shut in a bite that would have disembowled the Toad Boss had Jiraiya not realised what was happening. However, the impact was enough to cause him to drop his sword.

"Oh, this isn't good…"

As Gamabunta landed, Manda drew back in preparation for another strike when Tsunade, who had launched herself into the air and grabbed the falling sword, swung it in the air and, using her enhanced strength, hurled it like an oversized spear.

It flew true.

.

(((()

.

Kabuto cursed as one of the tigers lunged between him and Hinata, deflecting his senbon yet again. No amount of poison in the world would help if he couldn't get it past that defence, and the cats had shown a suprisingly sadistic side, allowing him to get close and attack before using the Needle Jizo technique to counter his attack.

He was impressed.

Extremely irritated, but still impressed.

The ground shook and he backed away from his adversaries, glancing over to see Orochimaru's snake-summons Manda pinned to the ground by a giant sword stabbed vertically through its mouth before the Boss summon dispelled.

"Kabuto, Karin, we are leaving!" Orochimaru shouted and Kabuto Shunshin'd to his master's side, glancing over to where Karin was meant to be fighting.

She was on the floor with one of the tigers pinning her with its head. Kabuto could see her trying to push it off, but she wasn't succeeding.

"My lord, I think we've lost Karin."

"Dammit." Orochimaru cursed as they started to vanish into the shadow of the rock. "You've won this time, but I'll destroy Konoha yet!"

.

(((()

.

"He's gone." Karin said, looking round. "I can't sense his chakra anywhere nearby. Can you let me up now?"

With a stuttering purr that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, the tiger lifted its head from her belly. As she pulled herself up, the tiger quickly licked her face.

"Hey!"

"I think they like you." Hinata said, walking over. Karin looked at her oddly.

"Are you a Gokatora? You were using their technique earlier."

Hinata smiled. "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way back. First of all, we need to get Tsunade's things."

.

(((()

.

"He sounds like a very nice boy." Karin said as she stroked the neck of the tiger she was perched on. "I can't wait to meet him, you really are lucky."

"I know." Hinata said, glancing back to where Jiraiya and Tsunade were arguing while Shizune rode behind them, an almost blissful expression on her face as she lay along the shoulders and neck of the tiger carrying her. "It's because of him that I met Kyouka and learned some of the techniques I used against Kabuto."

"Those were some serious techniques." Karin nodded. "I caught a few glimpses of the fight, I've never seen Kabuto look that annoyed before. Did he manage to make a single successful attack?"

"Nope." Hinata grinned. "The Great Tigers apparently picked up the Needle Jizo attack that Jiraiya-san taught me, and improved on it. As long as they concentrate, they're effectively immune to anything other than impact weapons,and they're naturally tough. Kunai bounce off them, Katana's fail to penetrate, it would take a Tetsubo to actually hurt them."

Karin nodded. "Tha must have caused him to freak out. He's normally excellent at deducing people's weaknesses, but I don't think he's had any experience with giant cats before."

Karin nodded, then looked round.

"… and you go on a mission with a young girl?" Tsunade shouted from behind them. "Who knows how perverted you were going to make her! Next thing you know, she'll be reading those orange books of yours!"

"Woah!" Karin exclaimed, looking backwards. "You write the Icha Icha series? Will you sign mine?"

Tsunade looked horrified as Karin pulled out a small scroll and unsealed several books.

"He'll do anything for his fans." Hinata said. "He's already signed mine."

Tsunade went white while Karin looked across at her, confused.

"I didn't think you were the sort to read Icha Icha."

"A friend of my sensei started me on it as a way to build up my ability to cope with situations that would normally cause me to faint." Hinata shrugged. "It worked, and now I can tease my boyfriend without passing out. Besides, the plotlines are actually quite good."

"This has to be a nightmare." Tsunade moaned. "Stuck with a pervert and two of his fans. Hinata, you've just lost the respect I had for you."