Hello, everyone, I'm finally back, and have the latest chapter of the "The Demon and the Ghost" for your entertainment. Enjoy!
* Review response:
Hakkyou no Yami, we discussed this via PM, so I see no point in talking about it here.
Naginator, I also don't know that. But the whole idea of destroying the roof came from one of the stories on this site I read some time ago, coupled with my personal understanding of barrier techniques' inner workings.
fanficreader71, Elemental Dragon Swordman, eclipseX, sh8ad8ow, Hanzo of the Salamander, Twin Silver Dragon, Reishin Amara, OBSERVER01, Fez8745, thanks!
Tristan76, as far as I remember, Naruto's seal is on his stomach, so he pulls elemental fusion from here and not out of his ass. =P
ChaosLord SilverLink310, hope, you liked the fight.
RE5 forever, thanks. As for the HP stories, I write some ideas from time to time. Right now NARUHAREM FOREVA took upon himself expanding one of my plot bunnies into a real story. But I myself won't write any big stories yet - even if I have a couple of ideas - I'm already working on four epics, so my time and inspiration is a bit limited (also, I still need to study for my diploma).
ranma hibiki, heh.
Still Not Dead Yet, read and see...
* Jutsu list:
Shunshin - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu.
Youton: dai-goremu - (special jutsu) Lava style: giant golem - Creates a golem from a mass of lava. User controls the golem, but must keep his hands in the concentration handseal. If the handseal is broken, the jutsu ends. The jutsu (because of the golem's size) requires so much chakra that even jinchuuriki needs to open fifth gate to have enough to keep the technique running for a minute and a half.
Fuuton: renkuudan - (?-rank) Wind style: drilling air projectile - User expels a ball of comressed air that explodes upon hitting something.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Naruto" in any shape or form.
"speaking"
'thinking'
"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using yoki / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"
'thinking of higher beings'
"O-OK..." Sachiko said unsurely.
"Let's go then." Picking his girlfriend's hand, Naruto shunshin'ed them to what was left from the village wall in the direction the Shukaku was approaching from. "Take this." He said, giving the whitehead a normal soldier's pill, while taking a modified one himself. Moment later a chakra exploded around him into a pyre – the pill forced first five of his inner gates open. He flashed through handseals, finishing with the concentration seal. "Youton: dai-goremu!" The wall, bar the stone the duo was standing on, melted into lava and took a vaguely-humanoid shape, thirty-something meters high. "I need you to protect us from the smaller sand attacks, Sachiko-chan." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki groaned under the strain of all the chakra and yoki he was using. When she nodded, he continued. "I can keep this technique running for about a hundred seconds. Once I run out of chakra, get us away form here."
"OK, Naruto-kun." The white-haired kunoichi said with another nod. Naruto nodded back and had his golem move to intercept the Ichibi.
Chapter 13: Invasion and the Aftermath
The one-tailed beast, seeing something big, and potentially dangerous, approach it, switched its attention to it: it could chase the ink bird with its pray later. The Ichibi let out a mighty roar, but the lava monster with two piny humans on its left shoulder didn't even flinch. Letting out another roar, Shukaku drew lots of the air into its massive body through additional mouths that appeared on its torso, before blowing a giant ball of compressed air – Fuuton: renkuudan jutsu was a weakened version of this one – towards its opponent.
The golem raised its tentacle-like arm to block the incoming projectile. There was a large explosion that destroyed golem's arm, but moment later a new arm started growing. And the clouds of dust that were raised by the explosions reformed themselves into three large dragons that immediately charged towards the bijuu on the loose. At the same time, the golem struck the ground with its 'healthy' arm, sending a seismic wave towards the Ichibi, trying to make it lose its balance. It worked a bit as the one-tailed beast had to make a step backwards. But it was all, and not a second later it destroyed all three dust dragons with a single swing of its arm...
"Damn!" Naruto hissed, seeing the beast they were fighting against readying itself for a jump. The golem was just too slow to get out of its way, and trying to withstand the force of a bijuu was quite a stupid idea, but, it seemed, the only one. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki made the golem raise its arm to block the ramming attack from the Ichibi, and the lava construct was able do to that just in time to ease the impact of the one-tailed demon. Still, the golem was send backwards good four dozen meters and almost destroyed. Shukaku too wasn't unscathed as the contact with lava melted its side.
"DIE PITIFUL HUMANS!" The Ichibi roared, simultaneously preparing to launch another wind ball. This time almost at point blank range – golem, especially just recovering one, wouldn't be able to block such an attack... Sachiko saw that, and send a low-power wind blade to intercept the bijuu's projectile before it got too close to them. The resulting explosion did no damage, other than enraging Shukaku further. And with Naruto's time running low they were in a desperate need for someone to replace them in the fight. The white-haired kunoichi could see Jiraya the sannin approaching them, while riding a giant toad with twin katana on its back, but the man still wouldn't be able to get there by the time her boyfriend's chakra will run out...
"Dammit!" Sachiko launched the most powerful wind blade she could right now – and it actually did some visible damage to the bijuu. Not that the 'wound' didn't heal moments later – but it only served to make the one-tailed demon angrier. And, abandoning self-preservation, the Ichibi rammed into the half-reconstructed golem again, completely destroying the construct. It was pure luck that neither Naruto nor Sachiko, both of whom lost their balance, didn't touch lava that was the golem. Still, they both hit the ground quite hard, and the white-haired kunoichi was sure that she was in no condition to successfully perform shunshin on both of them immediately. Or even just on herself...
"I shall devour you now, fleshbags!" The Ichibi roared, raising its giant arm to crush two teen on the ground. The beast already began moving, when a large shadow appeared over it. Moment later giant toad dropped with a loud battle cry between it and the teens, cutting demon's arm in the process.
"This is sand..." The toad observed as the cut arm began falling apart. "Now I will need to sharpen my blades." Jiraya, who was standing on the toad's head let out a silent growl.
"Gamahiro, I think that saving lives is more important than your katana." The toad nodded.
"Indeed it is, master Jiraya, but with blunt weapons I'm not that effective in the fight." Gamahiro replied.
"OK, OK..." The toad sannin replied, waving his hand. "Let's just do our job." Then the man turned to the teen on the ground. Naruto was already unconscious – his body was still human and could handle only so much of strain. "You two did a fine job, but I don't think that staying there will be safe for you. The hospital was never damaged nor it was ever captured by the invaders. You can go there." Sachiko nodded and, wrapping her hands around her boyfriend's body, performed the shunshin technique to get the hell out of there. "Now we can get serious, Gamahiro." The white-haired man said as he drew another set of red marks on his face. "And where are the ANBU when you need them the most?.."
The hospital was flooded with wounded people – mostly genin and chuunin with some civilians that were unlucky not to get to the safe houses in time – and seeing that they weren't wounded badly, Sachiko and Naruto were given some corner in the corridors. And that suited the white-haired girl just fine as right now, after what they lived through this day, she wasn't going to be separated from Naruto... And as her own exhaustion was great, Sachiko soon fell asleep, with her arms still around her boyfriend.
~/ *** \~
Not an hour after the invading forces were defeated, the council meeting was called. After different reports about the damages done and the casualties the ninja forces of the village suffered, it was decided to deal with the chuunin exam results too – the clan heads and other councilmen were just too lazy to come here again to deal with that...
"I nominate Uchiha Sasuke to be promoted to the rank of chuunin." Said one of the civilian councilmen. The Sandaime Hokage sighed tiredly: no real surprise there – someone had to say this.
"I second this." Another civilian said.
"I veto this nomination." Sarutobi said. "Someone who can't show on time for his own exam is not ready to be a chuunin of Konohagakure no Sato." Silence. No one dared to say anything against this argument. "I myself would like to nominate Nara Shikamaru. He showed exceptional strategic skills as well as ingenious usage of terrain to his advantage."
"Seconded." Hiashi Hyuuga said. There was a pause to see if anyone had an argument against nominating Shikamaru. Since no one had anything, the voting started:
"Everyone in favor?" All shinobi council, bar Nara Shikaku who couldn't vote this time, and some of the civilians raised their hands. "Everyone opposed?" No one. "Congratulations, Nara-san. Your son will make a fine chuunin for the village." Koharu said. "Any other nominations?"
"It's not a nomination for the promotion, but I feel that this is even more important." One of the more knowledgeable of shinobi business civilian councilmen spoke. "I wish to call for the execution of one Uzumaki Naruto for the treason. That d..." The man caught Hokage's glare and change to more ...neutral 'nickname' for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. "That brat sided with the invaders and destroyed the part of the village wall to let them in." Civilians immediately started shouting their approvals. Seeing that the situation was quickly spiraling out of his control, Sarutobi released some killing intent, shutting the civilians up.
'Clever bastard... He waited 'till near the end of the meeting, when everyone, especially shinobi members of the council, will be too tired to care much about the outcome, to raise the question...' The elderly village leader thought. "That will not happen." The Hokage stated firmly. "I may be old, but I'm neither blind nor stupid. It is true that young Naruto used a part of the village wall as the raw material for his jutsu, but he did it so to help Konoha: with the golem he created, he managed to halt the one-tailed beast before it could enter the village. It was very brave, even if quite stupid, thing to do, and it, quite possibly, saved a lot of lives and prevented greater damages to the village. You will not punish him for this." The last sentence was said with such power behind the word, that everyone in the council chamber knew better than even thinking about going against Hokage's wish. "He, though, will have to repair the damage he caused." Sarutobi took a deep breath as he stopped speaking.
"Any other important matters to be addressed to the council?" Homura asked.
"Well, we still need to see to the stadium being repaired, so I propose..." Akimichi Chouza spoke, making several councilmen groan – this meeting was going last forever!..
~/ *** \~
Naruto woke up a little before sunrise the next morning - thanks to the mass of yoki sealed inside of him, he could recover from severe chakra exhaustion in a matter of hours, where it would take a normal ninja a couple of days... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki found himself seated comfortably against his girlfriend, with his head resting on her chest, her arm around his torso and her head resting on top of his. Not wanting to wake Sachiko-chan up, but needing to visit certain ...places, the blond shinobi summoned single shadow clone and substituted himself with the doppelganger.
Sometime later, when he was finished – and also got the two of them some food from the mess for breakfast – Naruto returned to where Sachiko was sleeping, hugging his clone to her chest. He dismissed the clone, smiling involuntary at how the white-haired girl moaned disappointingly at the loss of her 'teddy bear'. Setting the things on the floor, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sat next to his girlfriend and moved her into sitting in his lap. The girl, still asleep, leaned into him and relaxed, while he wrapped his hands around her.
"Sweet dreams, my princess." Naruto whispered, kissing his girlfriend on the top of her head.
Sachiko was now awake, even if she was yet to open her eyes. She knew that sometime during the night Naruto woke up and switched their positions as she now was in his lap with his arms around her belly and his morning wood pressed between her ass cheeks. Not that she mind it in any way. She, actually, liked the things this way, which she immediately expressed by wiggling her ass a bit...
Finally opening her eyes, the white-haired kunoichi found out that they were still in the same hospital corridor she brought them yesterday evening, so it was impossible to say what time it was now, but her inner clock was telling her that it was about eight in the morning...
"Good morning S'-chan." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said, kissing her on top of her head. In response, Sachiko just moved so that she was now sitting sideways in his lap, and, turning her head to face him, kissed him on his lips. Naruto eagerly responded by kissing her back...
"Ahem." Two teens instantly broke the kiss and, blushing madly, turned to see who had interrupted them – Iruka-sensei who had a bit bloodied bandages on his left leg and a quite nasty bruise on his face. A little behind him stood Sai, who had his left hand in the cast. "Good to see you unharmed and awake. I've heard quite a stories about your adventures yesterday." The jounin commented. "Anyway, you can return to pleasing each other later. Hokage-sama wishes to see our team." The two teen nodded and stood up, with Naruto picking the food he had bought before up and giving half of it to his girlfriend.
"Let's go then." The blond shinobi said as he and Sachiko-chan headed towards the exit from the hospital, followed closely by their sensei and third teammate.
~/ *** \~
"You wanted to see us, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked as he and his three genin entered the office. Sarutobi, who looked quite tired – he was just too old to be both a fighter and the administrator of the ninja village, it seemed – nodded.
"Yes, thank you Iruka-san for coming here on such a short notice." The elderly man paused for a moment, before continuing. "I'm very pleased with your performance during the invasion... Sai, you saved a promising ninja, as well as helped with spotting enemy's remaining positions within the village. For that I'd like to award you a mark of distinction – the second one will see you being promoted to the rank of chuunin – and the equivalent of two B-rank mission payments." The pale boy bowed and took the mark and the paychecks from Sarutobi.
"Thank you, lord Hokage." Hiruzen nodded and turned to the only female of the team five.
"Sachiko, you showed both great fighting and tactical skills, as well as a level of leadership that I want to see in all of our chuunin. Congratulations." The Hokage said, giving a chuunin vest to the white-haired kunoichi. "Also, for performing above and beyond what was required by you rank, I award you with the equivalent of three B-rank mission payments."
"T-Thank you, Hokage-sama." Sachiko said with a bow as she accepted the paychecks and the vest.
"Now onto you, Naruto. You did more than your teammates for the village during the invasions, but some of you actions were ...immature, so while I will not deny you strength nor your ability to be a leader, I do not feel that you are ready to be a chuunin." Sarutobi said. "Also, while you did halt the advance of the Shukaku, for which the village is grateful to you, in doing so you damaged the village wall, which weakened our defenses. Your punishment for that will be repairing the damage you caused."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said, while looking down.
"Still, for your services to the village, I award you a mark of distinction and an equivalent of one B-rank mission payment." The Hokage said, passing the mark and the paycheck to the boy. Naruto just nodded, too stunned to respond verbally. "Now... We won and defended our village, but we have no time for the celebration yet. The damage invading forces dealt us is heavy and needs to be repaired as soon as possible." The team five nodded in agreement. "Naruto, for the time being you will be working on repairing the part of the village wall you used for your golem." The blond shinobi nodded again. "Bear..." An ANBU with the said mask appeared next to the Hokage's table. "...Will assist you."
"I'm informed that you know shunshin no jutsu, Naruto-san." The ANBU said, his voice distorted by the mask. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded. "In that case, meet me at the E-18 section of the wall in five minutes." With that the ANBU disappeared from the office. Naruto made a handseal and followed the suit.
"As for the rest of the team five, you will, like the rest of the teams, perform D-rank missions in assistance to repairing the village." Sarutobi said.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!"
~/ *** \~
It was now two weeks since the invasion. Naruto already had finished with the wall he had to repair and rejoined his team on the D-ranks of repairing the village... The team five, a bit sleepy from having to get up early in the morning, was sitting under a large tree in the village central part – their temporary meeting spot – when Iruka arrived.
"Good morning, team." The jounin said, himself about as sleepy as his team.
"Mornin', sensei." Two genin and one chuunin replied. "What are our missions for today?" Sachiko continued.
"Actually... Hokage-sama received a B-rank mission that requested specifically our team. It seems that you managed to catch an eye of one of the Daimyo's vassals. So, we are excused from the morning missions for the time being." Iruka replied. "Now, we will start your training for the mission."
"What skill are we going to learn, Iruka-sensei?" Sai asked, making the jounin smile.
"You are going to learn ballroom dancing."
That's all folks. Leave me a review!
Also, right now I have exams, so do not expect any update for my stories till the beginning of the febrary. Though, I suppose, you may want to know that "Pyro" will be updated first as I plan on posting two next chapters of "Konoha's young sage" at the same time or, at least, with just a short time frame between them.