Hope Will Never Die...ripples in the lake of time that spread until the water meets a sea or crashes at the bottom of a waterfall. How big of a wave that is made will determine how fast the ripples run and how soon they fade...
HWND/ Subaku no Gaara: Path Divergence, Before Chunin Exams. Changes, complete shift in moral functionality. Reverting back to true ages mindset, however, the speed of change greatly conflicts with current status. Mental stability in question. Mannerisms more like Naruto, though wise when need be. More changes yet to be determined...
HWND/ Hiroshi TenTen: Path Divergence, During Forest of Death. Changes, confidence greatly increased due to meeting of people who accept her outside of her teammates. Loyalty to Naruto and Fuu plus her team has increased her determination as well. Mannerisms seem more cheerful, though oriented by her new found friends. More changes yet to be determined...
HWND/ Mitarashi Anko: Path Divergence, Before Forest of Death. Changes, established a deep connection to Naruto because of their past, and due to a growing feeling of admiration to the teen, has begun to show her true self. Refuses to use complete promiscuity on Naruto. Mannerisms seem about the same, however, almost frighteningly different around Naruto. More changes yet to be determined...
Chapter 6: Within Truth and Lies 1
"Should...should we be concerned?"
"...At this point, I honestly don't know or care anymore. I need eye soap, because this is just plain disturbing..."
Temari and Kankurou were currently standing at the edge of the clearing where they had just beaten a Konoha squad of genin and acquired the scroll they needed to continue on to the tower. But, instead of the blood soaked clearing that they were expecting to see, they were rewarded with the site of Gaara consoling the female of the opposite team, whom had cried upon losing their chance to advance in the exam. As their little brother finished up and sent the team on their way, he faced his siblings with the same emotionless expression they were used to.
"What?" He asked, honestly holding back a smirk that threatened to break his emotionless mask. He was completely aware of his elder siblings confusion to his new found attitude.
"Seriously...Gaara, what's going on here?" Temari asked, as close to demanding as she would get without knowing if Gaara had truly changed or not.
Gaara sighed and formed a sand chair behind him. He sat and motioned for his siblings to do the same. They both rose questioning eyebrows until they noticed two sand chairs behind them as well.
"I didn't know he could do that..." Kankurou whispered impressed. Temari held back the urge to hit him, finding Gaara's sand molding skills the least of their worries right now.
Gaara sat patiently as Temari tried to get her thoughts together. After a few minutes, Temari crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, which was surprisingly sturdy.
"What's happened to make you act like this Gaara?" The bluntness of her questioning was becoming common now.
"I met with the Konoha shinobi Naruto. He is a junchuriki as well."
"A WHAT?" Temari and Kankurou called at the same time. Gaara shrugged.
"He is the container of the Kyubi. Apparently they have a mutual relationship. Naruto has gone through the same things as I, yet he hasn't given in to his inner demon. His courage and drive his shown me that I don't have to be a weapon for Suna. I can be my own person."
Temari's gaze pierced into Gaara and held it for several seconds. Kankurou looked between the two, a bit disturbed by Temari's own courage to look their brother in the eyes like that. Then Temari slowly stood up. She took three steps towards Gaara, never leaving his gaze. Kankurou sweated and put a hand on his puppet just in case. Gaara's fist unintentionally clenched suddenly. A flash of his childhood appeared in his mind for a split second.
"Thank Kami!" Temari cried and wrapped her arms around her little brother. Gaara's eyes widened and the sand around them shot up into the air. Kankurou jumped to his feet, unwrapping the puppet in less than a second. However, the sand froze in the air. Silence filled the clearing yet Kankurou's heart thudded heavily in his chest. Temari and Gaara were half concealed from his view by sand. As the wind blew, he realized he was holding his breath. Then the sand began to collapse back onto the ground.
"She means you no harm." The Ichibi said, a bit more of a feminine tone entering her voice.
Gaara was still speechless at the action. Then Naruto's words echoed in his head.
"I bet your brother and sister worry for you all the time, even if you can't tell. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but if you don't try it will never happen."
"Temari...Kankurou...I'm sorry...for everything." Gaara spoke as he wrapped his arms around Temari too. Kankorou relaxed his grip and let out a relieved sigh.
"It's alright Gaara. It was always alright. You never asked for this." Temari was crying, her grip only growing on her little brother.
"You...you never blamed me?" Gaara took a step back from Temari. The sandy blonde wiped her eyes and smiled.
"Of course not! It could have been either one of us if we would have been born in your position." Temari's smile was new to Gaara. It was bright, and most definitely something he wasn't used to seeing. Even more, it was directed at him. His sister was smiling at him. He flinched as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"If mother never hated you, why would we?" Kankorou added. Now Gaara was really astounded.
"But...father said mother hated me!"
Temari and Kankorou paused. "He said what?" The smile that was on Temari's face fell instantly. Kankurou cracked his knuckles.
"I knew he was a bastard, but to tell Gaara that..."
"We need to go see father." Temari called.
"No! We can't, not yet." Gaara said, eyes pleading. "I've already alerted Konoha of the invasion. Naruto plans to let everything seem like they're normal so that Father and Orochimaru won't get suspicious. We have to continue on as if nothing has changed."
The entire situation was almost overwhelming for the older sand siblings. Everything they had prepared for was gone out the window. But seeing Gaara act normal was a bigger conundrum, one that was gladly welcomed. Though they didn't, they felt as if they had a decent enough grasp on the situation to go with the flow. If all they had to do was act natural, then all they had to keep doing was laying low. The only problem now was their sensei Baki, and the actual invasion. It may have been a month away, but they would need to plan.
"We can still act normal but we do need to meet this Naruto person." Temari said, not realizing both Gaara and Kankurou had been staring at her in confusion.
"Uh..." Kankurou started.
Temari glanced at him, still thinking. "What?"
"You do realize you zoned out and started talking to yourself right? Saying stuff like everything going out the window, Gaara acting normal, going with the flow...we thought you had started narrating or something. You writing a book?"
Temari blushed as Gaara held a smirk. She looked back and forth between her brothers before fuming and standing. "Oh screw you guys! I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do!"
"What? Like you narrated. All we have to do is act natural." Gaara teased.
Sand shot up as Temari tried to bring her fist down on Gaara's head. "Dammit! I liked you better when you didn't talk!" She called continuing to rain down punches on the sand shield. Gaara looked at Kankurou.
"Has...has she always been this violent?"
"Trust me, this isn't as bad as that time of month." The punches suddenly stopped. Kakurou realized a second too late that the statement he just made would be his last for the day.
"You can go to hell!" Temari called, bringing around the oversized fan with force begetting Tsunade. Kankurou's body soared over the trees and out of the clearing. Gaara looked in amazement at the distance and air his brother got. When Temari's enraged glare landed on him, he formed a sand shield over his entire body except for his face.
"Should we check on him?" Gaara asked. Temari shrugged.
"He'll be awake by tomorrow."
Gaara let down the sand shield as Temari rubbed the back of her head, regretting hitting Kankurou that hard. Now it was Gaara's turn to shrug. "Well, at least his smells gone."
After Gaara and Temari decided it best to wait it out until Kankurou reawakened, Gaara entered his mind. He appeared inside of the large prison, however, this time there was only one large cell. The Ichibi's shadow was all he could see for a moment.
"Okay, what's going on here?" Gaara asked in his normal monotone, arms folded and bored look upon his face. "You're starting to sound different."
The shadow of the Ichibi slowly grew larger as it neared the gates. When it was finally up close, Gaara cocked his head in confusion.
"What, Nibi's got your tongue or something?" The tailed beast asked, her voice...almost natural. It was just a bit deeper than Kurenai's.
"You're slimmer...and not as ugly..." Gaara noted. In fact, Shukaku seemed more like a ferret now than a badger...raccoon...thing. Her form was becoming slim, like that of Kyubi, and her snout was just a bit elongated instead of looking as if it was mushed to her face.
"I'll take that as a compliment. I'm returning to my natural form, before I became a depressed prisoner."
"So...you weren't always a disgusting, fat, ugly rodent?" Gaara knew depression hit hard, but that was ridiculous.
"...Don't push your luck Gaara, I can still give you nightmares." The demon narrowed her eyes. Gaara humbled himself for the moment. The large demon laid down, her slimming new figure making no sound as she moved.
"If this is the real you, then why did the Kyubi and Hachibi bully you all the time?" Gaara asked genuinely interested in anything that made the Ichibi's life miserable. More ammo for him to use against her.
"I'm the one tail, the weakest of the tailed beast. I was always trying to pick fights with the others so that they wouldn't call me the weakest...of course, that back fired...That and Kyubi and Hachibi were ass holes to begin with." The demoness sighed and let out a wry chuckle.
Gaara seemed to think to himself for a bit. "Is that why you forced me to kill all those people?"
"Yes...you humans were weak. Weaker than me. So by having you, my host, slaughter them, I could gain a false sense of power. It began with only people who deserved it, but my insanity slowly grew from there."
"The Kyubi and Hachibi fueled it, but power made you what you are..." Gaara rhetorically stated.
"Well, that and they always held the fact that I had a crush on the Gobi over my head."
Gaara wanted to smack his forehead. "Let me get this straight...you all powerful demons, masters of elements and chakra, with knowledge beyond even the wisest of men to date...are no more than a bunch of hormone driven animals? What are you, teenagers?"
"Actually, in the proportion of demon life spans to human years...yes." Gaara face planted.
"This shouldn't even surprise me anymore." Gaara mumbled. "So, is there a reason you're telling me all of this?"
The Ichibi seemed to smile a bit. "Well, as the Kyubi said, we cannot escape our fates. We should make our time together as least displeasing as possible. I understand if you do not trust me now, and even if it takes a while. But I am willing to help you as the Kyubi does his child for as long as it takes."
Gaara gave the tailed beast a scrutinizing glare. But it soon softened and he sat down in front of the cell. Of course, after everything the demon had put him through, he hated it. But no more so than the people of his village and his father. As of now, the demon seemed like it was legitimately trying to make amends. As farfetched as it seemed, Gaara was willing to look towards the future. But only because of Naruto.
"You've made my life hell since the day I was born, had me kill dozens upon dozens of people. You are the reason my entire village hates me, including my own father, and the reason my brother and sister feared me until today." Gaara watched as Shukaku fidgeted under his glare. "I guess if you call me Gaara-sama and never talk about killing anyone again, then I can work with you."
"Gaara-sama? Really?" Ichibi stood up, almost as if to walk away.
"I can always ask Naruto to bring the Kyubi in here to-"
"Oh Gaara-sama, stop joking around so much!" Gaara couldn't help but smirk. He turned to leave the prison with the same mirth.
"Ah, this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
The two hurdled through the forest at a leisure pace. There was too much tension in the air to try and go at full speed, and very few words had been spoken since they started moving. Naruto had already explained the situation to Anko, and after several painful jabs and near fatal cuts from a poison tipped kunai, they were on their way to the Tower.
Anko was well beyond pissed, of course. But she wasn't pissed at Naruto. They would be in much more trouble than this if the boy hadn't tricked Orochimaru. She was most definitely upset about the reactivation of her curse mark, but she was already thinking of ways to make it work for herself. She still remembered the curse mark giving a power boost to the user, but at the cost of enforcing Orchi-teme's will on the user progressively. Knowing the snake bastard, it probably worked twice as fast as the original seal used to. If she could find a way to manipulate the curse mark to give her the strength and force herself to will Orochimaru's malevolence away, then she would be able to get stronger much faster than she could without it.
"Hey Anko-sensei..." Naruto called, disturbing her thoughts again. He had been trying to talk to her for a while. She had heard him, but she didn't respond, keeping her eyes forward. "Are you still upset with me?" Still no response.
Naruto looked down sadly. She had been giving him the silent treatment for a while now, and it was starting to take its toll. He had heard her when she claimed she wanted to apologize to him, and that earned his respect in of itself. She knew of the Kyubi inside of him and didn't judge him for it. Anko Mitarashi had quickly become one of his precious people. So he didn't want to lose her, especially not so soon.
"Anko-sensei..." A tear rolled down his cheek now. "Even if you hate me now, I'm sorry. I never wanted things to turn out like this. I...I'll fix this, I promise. Just please, forgive me for putting you through this."
Naruto was cut off as Anko stood on a tree branch in front of him, hands on her hips and a small, sad smile on her face. He didn't have time to stop and smashed right into her chest. Hands wrapped around him instantly, preventing from moving. If Anko hadn't began speaking, Naruto would have realized he was in the position that almost every man in Fire Country would literally go to war for.
"It's not Anko-sensei. It's Anko-chan to you brat." Naruto froze in her grip. "Naruto, it's because of you that we're even on our way back alive. This is nothing compared to what could have happened today. I should be apologizing to you, again! I doubted you, after everything you've been through. I yelled at you in the Hokage's office when you've felt pain as bad or even worse than me. Honestly, Naruto, I admire you. You were right about something. I should have felt exactly how you said when you were tricking Orochi-teme. And I did at a point. I wanted to burn Konoha to the ground for how they treated me. But at the same time, while I was wallowing in my own self pity, I didn't see how they were treating you too."
She meant it. Anko didn't need to hide her true self around Naruto. It felt good to let the real her peer through the mucky dirt of her promiscuous guise.
She squeezed the blonde even tighter, burying her face into his hair. Naruto slowly wrapped his arms around the older woman's waist. "I'll fix this, Anko-chan. Just trust me."
Anko chuckled lightly. "You're one of five people in this village that I trust and respect. Once you have that, it's hard..." She paused, thinking of Orochimaru. "It's hard to lose it..." Her somber expression changed quickly. "Plus, you're easy on the eyes and the hands." She said, leaning back from the hug.
"Hands?" Naruto wondered. Anko pointed down. "Hey, when did my pants come unzipped..." Naruto froze on spot, but didn't get a chance to say anything as Anko continued.
"I'll let you in on a secret, gaki. Shinobi of any ages are allowed to court, as long as it doesn't compromise the villages security and hinder work ethics." She seemed as if she had entered lecture mode. "By technical means, as soon as you put on that hitai-ate, you are a grown man. Of course, some people will still look at you as only children, which means that you will have to show them that you deserve the respect of any adult. You just proved to me that you are, by no means, still a child. I'll treat you like the adult you are."
Naruto rose an eyebrow, taking in all the information. Though he was proud of himself for gaining the respect of Anko Mitarashi, he also analyzed the very beginning of her short lecture. "Are you hitting on me?"
"Why, is it working?"
Naruto blushed completely red, his mouth cementing itself shut. Then he launched forward, continuing towards the tower. Anko fumed and soared after him.
"Hey! Seriously, is it working?"
The room had fell into a silence, though it wasn't as awkward or tense as many thought it would be. After Ino had her little conversation with Sakura, everyone had patiently awaited the arrival of their jonin sensei's amongst their own teams. Sakura had already spoken with Ibiki, letting him know everything that happened before she was attacked by the sound team. Now back in the room with the others, she still sat alone, thinking of what exactly she would say to both Naruto and Sasuke when she saw them. She was playing through scenarios where she would be bowed in front of Naruto, begging for forgiveness. The old her still ended several of the scenario's with a fist to the dome, but after a while, they progressively became less violent. On the last of her inward scenario's, a teary eyed Sakura's lips were only inches away from the lips of the blonde in question.
"You say who did the what in the where?" She snapped her head up, noticing that she had momentarily fallen asleep. A few glances in her direction had her blushing and hiding her face. 'That...that never happened. It was just a dream...'
In the corner with Team 10, Shikamaru was surprisingly not sleeping. Instead, for the most part of the time that Ino had gone to talk with Sakura to the time that she had been back sitting with them, he had formulated a few thoughts away from the topic of what had transpired. Chouji seemed oblivious to it all as he remained silent while eating his never ending bag of chips.
"Ino." Shikamaru started. The platinum blonde looked up, startled to have her name called. She seemed to have been deep in thought, most likely like everyone else that sat quietly around the room.
"What is it Maru-kun?" She asked, almost giggling at the quick blush that formed on her surrogate brothers face. She had only used that nickname with the boy when she was either extremely happy about something or when she just wanted to mess with him. She would be using it a lot more often from then on.
"You're starting to act different. Like Hinata. Like Naruto. Hell, like damn near everyone now. What's YOUR reason?" He asked honestly. He made it a point to know when his sister was doing something potentially stupid, dangerous, and hopefully in this case beneficial to her overall as a person.
Ino blushed slightly. It was as if Shikamaru had read her mind, but knowing the genius, he had probably just put two and two together. Even after her conversation with Sakura, she was still thinking of everything she wanted to do for herself and for the others. Ironically, even if off characteristically, she had began to think of trying to befriend Naruto again. After what she had just seen happen, she wouldn't mind trying to talk to the boy to comfort him and find out what had happened.
This line of thinking led to her wanting to change even more. She wanted to become stronger so that what happened in the Forest of Death wouldn't happen again, even if she didn't know EXACTLY what happened. It still confused Ino. She knew she wanted to change, and yet, she still didn't know what type of path she was supposed to take. Was she supposed to get stronger for the sake of others? Was she supposed to change and become the kindhearted young woman she knew she could be?
"I'm weak, Maru-kun. Weaker than I should be. Because of blindly following Sasuke and for acting like a pig head." She called, though with no remorse for herself and no sadness. She had already gone over this with herself several times, and no matter how many questions she came up with, she could never find the answers for herself. Ino knew she wouldn't run after Sasuke anymore, though she couldn't deny that she still had a small crush on him. The blonde knew she wouldn't go into situations without thinking anymore, that much was for certain. Her father had taught her a lot as a child, everything that she had thrown out the window when in the academy. It shouldn't have taken her until then to figure out that there was a reason for it.
"The fact that you can admit that means that you're not weak Ino." He put an arm around her shoulder. "Everything that you've just said even. It makes me think that you've hidden the real you from us this whole time. And if that's the case, I should hit you for making me and Chouji deal with that fake you for all these years."
Ino chuckled at Shikamaru as she leaned onto him. "But how will I know if I've changed or not? I don't even know how..."
"It's like Shikamaru just said," Chouji spoke low, startling the other two. "you've already changed Ino. Even if you don't know what type of path you're supposed to be on yet, find one. If you can't go forward, go left. If not left, then right. If all the paths around you lead to nowhere then blow a fucking whole in the wall and make a different path!" The portly pre-teen called with fire in his eyes. Ino and Shikamaru sweat-dropped at the
passionate speech.
"Uh...yeah, what Chouji said..." Shikamaru said with a small laugh. "Ino, live your life. Me and Chouji here will always support you, okay? Don't be afraid to talk to us, even if I try to blow you off for a nap."
"Yeah, what's with that?" Ino called pouting. "And why are you being so non-Shikamarish right now?"
Shikamaru ignored the fact that Ino had given him his own category of lazy, but hell, it was well deserved. "You're my big/little sister. What type of brother would I be if I didn't listen every now and then?"
"You'd be the Shikamaru type brother." Chouji called, once again indulging himself with the taste of BBQ chips. Shikamaru glared at his brother.
"Thanks a lot..."
Ino's giggles made the two smile. "Thanks, both of you. I...I still don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I know I can never go back to how I was." Ino loved them. As rare as it was, this wasn't the first time Shikamaru and Chouji had been there for her. Just like she remembered when Naruto had been there for her too. She had amends to make with people. And that, Ino decided, was going to be the first step down her own path.
"Looks like we've missed a lot." Team 8 looked up as they heard their sensei's voice. Asuma Sarutobi walked through the door, followed by Kurenai and Gai. The genin didn't respond how their sensei's expected, being jumping up or at least acknowledging them more than they did. Instead, all of them looked over, didn't move, and then went back to conversing with one another. It even surprised Gai that Lee didn't greet him.
"It seems they are more troubled than we could have imagined." He stated as he saw Neji mumbling to his teammates and their solemn nods of agreement. Kurenai folded her arms and frowned as her gaze was on her own team. Hinata was sitting with her head leaned on Kiba's shoulder while Shino was next to them. It seemed as if they were speaking as well, and from the looks of it, Hinata was starting to open up again. She still wondered what happened to make the girl change in one night.
"Who could blame them. From what the ANBU reported, we may just as well have an S-class secret revealed here in front of everyone." The two men instantly dreaded what Kurenai had just said. If the secret of the Kyubi was revealed to the children, who knew what they would say about them for keeping it secret, and even worse, what would they say to Naruto.
"Excuse us, but we would like to enter." The sound of a newcomer alerted the Jonin. They turned to see the Amegakure team, the genin with annoyed expressions and their sensei with a goofy grin. Train grit his teeth.
"Please, kill this man. If he speaks one more word about food, I'm going to shoot him myself."
Fuu, who loved ramen just as much as Naruto, had even had enough of the man's ramblings on donuts and meat buns. "We'll explain to our Kage that his death was his own fault."
"Not you too, Fuu!" Vash called, tears streaming down his cheeks as he hugged the young girls leg. The Konoha Jonin all sweat-dropped.
"And...who are you?" Kurenai questioned. Vash was up as if nothing had even happened.
"Vash Stryfe of Amegakure. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Just as Vash was about to put his hand out for a hand shake, Uriu kicked him in the back sending him rolling into the room. The Konoha Jonin quickly stood aside, only for Kurenai to look down and notice Uriu on one knee in front of her.
"Forgive my idiot sensei. It seems he still doesn't know how to treat a beautiful woman such as yourself. I am Uriu Ishida, here to serve you in any way milady."
Kurenai blushed more from being a bit creeped out than from embarrassment. She was saved from further embarrassment as Fuu once again shoved her stinger into Uriu's side.
"Dammit, Uriu, how many woman are going to take a restraining order out against you before you stop doing this."
In the room, Kiba rose an eyebrow. "Who the hell is that flirting with Kurenai-sensei?"
"They are from the Amegakure team that arrived here with us remember?" Shino stated. Hinata couldn't help but let out a small, cute giggle.
"FUU!" Ten-Ten's voice rocked the room. Fuu looked up just in time to squeak as a flying Ten-Ten glomped her to the ground. "Fuu I was so worried about you!" Ten-Ten cried with streams of tears pouring from her eyes as she rubbed her cheeks against Fuu's. Fuu patted the older girls head.
"I'm...I'm fine but...you're crushing...me."
A shadow loomed over the two, making them pause until they saw Train leaning over them, a cat like smirk adorning his face as his eyes glowed that unearthly yellowish gold. Fuu and Ten-Ten yelped and dashed into the room, hiding behind Vash as he was now standing.
"Wh-what's with those creepy eyes?" Ten-Ten called flailing a pointing finger at the genin.
"I don't know!" Fuu cried.
Everyone in the room sweat-dropped as when Train walked in, his eyes were normal and looked as if nothing had happened at all. "Hey, are you two alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost." He asked innocently.
"DEVIL!" They yelled back.
While most of the nin in the room watched the scene in content, there were two whom had almost all but forgotten about everyone else.
The two nin locked eyes and a wave of tension instantly filled the room. "Neji..." Hinata whispered.
"Hinata..." He whispered right back. Even from across the room, though they didn't hear each other, they could read each others lips. Neji was surprised to see Hinata send a hateful glare his way. Then She stood, drawing the attention of her two teammates.
"You okay Hinata?" Kiba asked. Shino merely watched, sensing more than seeing the conflict between the two Hyuga.
Hinata folded her arms and walked over to Neji, stopping several feet in front of him. Her glare was neutral, uncaring now. Neji's matched hers but with a small hint of hatred showing through.
"And who do I owe to have the Hyuga heiress herself gracing a branch member like me with her presence?" He spat with malice.
"If you would open your blinded eyes, you would see that I have never claimed the main branch."
Neji was taken back by the tone in Hinata's voice. "Oh? Has the pathetic excuse for a Hyuga finally grown a back bone? No, that's impossible. Someone as pathetic to the main and side branch as you could never hope to change. You can only fall further."
The statement made Hinata's eyes flicker with the byakugan for a brief moment. "Your words will no longer effect me Neji. If you wish to continue to belittle me, then prove you are stronger. Otherwise, keep your own pathetic bullshit to yourself and have the decency to hold your head high in the presence of both the side and main branch."
"Fool!" Neji yelled. "Why waste my time with you, one who can't even hold her own against her younger sister? You wouldn't even last ten seconds against me."
Hinata drew a kunai and launched it at Neji. Neji drew his own and deflected it before taking a step forward and then leaping, going over Hinata. He aimed a slash right at her throat while he was above her, but instead, hit another kunai. Hinata spun on spot as she blocked his aerial attack and rotated her body into a windmill kick. Neji took a quick step back to avoid the reverse ax-kick that would have caved his skull in but wasn't fast enough to avoid Hinata's other leg as she extended it towards his chest, sending him sliding back several feet.
"Hinata, Neji, stop this instance!" Kurenai yelled. Gai put a hand on the woman's shoulder and shook his head.
"Leave them be." He said solemnly.
"But-" Gai tightened his grip slightly. Kurenai looked back and forth between the scene and Gai. She hugged herself, knowing she probably couldn't stop them anyway.
"This needed to be settled sooner or later, Kurenai. Maybe now would be best."
The tension that rose between the two ignited a spark into an all out blaze. Nothing could stop the events from unfolding now, not even the Jonin. Neji was the first to activate his byakugan, sliding into the Hyuga's stance. Hinata's dark glare put whatever feelings of hate Neji had to shame. She wouldn't allow him to tear her down. Not when she had started trying to build herself up. They would settle this unjustified dispute here and now, regardless of how she wanted to do it differently. The peaceful way has never gotten her anything. So now, she would allow her skills to talk.
"Byakugan!" She called and rushed in. The flurry of strikes and blocks made many of the others whom had never seen a Hyuga on Hyuga fight go slack jaw, meaning every genin and even Asuma. The blows seemed so precise, almost as if they both could see every single last move the other was making. The look of determination on Hinata's face made Neji shiver.
'She's better than I thought...' Neji noted.
Hinata noticed that Neji was manipulating his chakra in a way that it would curl around her strikes with the twitch of a finger and still hit her tenketsu. That was definitely something her father hadn't taught her, or that she had heard of from any Hyuga period. She knew this is why Neji was a prodigy, and not her. But Hinata wasn't a typical Hyuga either. Even if she could not best Neji in the traditional Hyuga Jyuken, she could best him at the game of creativity.
Just as Neji subtly made the move to take out one of Hinata's tenketsu, the Hyuga heiress blocked the attack, but at the same time flicked her wrist ever so slightly, making Neji's small burst of chakra miss her arm completely. Neji's eyes widened, but no one would notice. The next several strikes went the same way, and those watching couldn't see a change in the battle at all. Neji jumped back from Hinata, the glare from earlier returning. Hinata only smirked at her big cousin.
"What's wrong, Neji? I thought I would be down in a matter of seconds! Don't tell me you're starting to have second thoughts!"
Neji huffed. "A minor miscalculation on my part. You're fall is still inevitable. It will simply take a little more effort on my part." Neji's smile grew. "You are in my field of divination." Hinata's heart skipped a bit. Kurenai and Gai both looked in horror prepared to rush in, until they saw Hinata smirk too. Neji rushed forward, lines of chakra trailing behind his hands as it seemed he was completely set on ending Hinata's life.
"2 palms, 4 palms, 8 palms, 16 palms," Neji counted off. However, the entire room was stunned into silenced awe. As Neji started his strikes, Hinata had started to rotate her arms. The only people able to see what was actually happening were Train, Fuu, and Neji.
Every strike that Neji threw, Hinata's flat palms came down to meet it. A thin, long chakra blade came down with each rotation, Neji's own chakra breaking them apart but at the cost of expending the chakra that he was trying to hit Hinata with. As Neji made it to the 8th palm, Hinata took a shaky step back, as Neji's momentum would've allowed him to push through her blades and into her body had she not been able to move while performing her defense. By the 32nd palm, Hinata was literally dashing backwards as Neji continued his assault. Now Train was the only one able to see the blur that was Hinata's and Neji's hands and arms.
"Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams: 64 palms jutsu!" Neji cried as his last hits were met with Hinata's blades again, a visible burst of chakra forming between them like glass shattering and pushing Hinata into the wall of the area. She let out a weak grunt as she hit the wall and slid down to one knee. Neji was panting just as hard as the girl and his eyes shown fear. "What is this?"
Hinata panted, her eyes blurring and letting off dry heaves. "I'm...I'm not afraid..." Her meek voice called out. She struggled to stand up, her byakugan no longer activated. If one looked closely, they'd see the blood dripping from her palms. Neji noticed, and then saw that his own fingers were bleeding as well.
"How...how have you gotten like this? What's the difference today that wasn't there two days ago?" Neji called, the fear now evident on his face. "Who are you?"
Hinata slid back into the Jyuken stance. "I am who I am supposed to be." She reactivated her byakugan. "I am a believer of change..." She straitened herself out as she took in heavy breaths. "I am a person who stands on the verge of collapsing. I am a person who believes in justice and honor, of love and loss. I am a person who believes that the weak can become stronger than the best, that there is no difference between failure and success."
Hinata ran forward, chakra forming over her entire arms. Around her fist, they took the shape of lions. "I AM HINATA HYUGA!" Neji was too startled. The move came too quick. "Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Barrage!" The lions around Hinata's fist roared as she dashed past Neji, emitting a flash that temporarily blinded many in the room. Hinata stood several feet behind Neji, both of her hands outstretched from the attack. Everything went silent.
"Lady...Hinata..." Neji whispered as his jacket exploded into shreds and cuts seemed to appear over his torso as his tenketsu were all but sliced to pieces. He hit the ground on the verge of unconsciousness.
"Neji-kun..." Hinata called as she too felt the signs of unconsciousness effecting her as well. "I'm different than father and the others of the main branch. I was hated, damn near outcast. Because I didn't treat the side branch the way the others did. Because I wasn't as gifted in our arts as my little sister. Because I actually have emotions." Tears had began to fall, though Hinata's expression never changed. "I...I hate the hatred that's in our family...I hate having to lie to myself and act this way. I never want to be like father...but I don't want to lose what little family I have left there either."
"Hi...Hinata..." Surprisingly, Neji was trying to stand.
"I understand it. I understand that you hate me for what happened to your father. Uncle Hizashi was an honorable man, and more caring than I could ever imagine my own father being. He died for me, and not a day goes by that I don't thank him every night. There are times where your hatred for me makes me wish that those Kumogakure ninja would have succeeded in taking me if it would mean you and your fathers happiness."
She tried to wipe away her tears, but they just wouldn't stop flowing. She sniffed and turned towards the now standing Neji.
"Through all of this...the only reason I haven't caved, Neji, is because of Naruto-kun. No matter how much pain I've gone through, I know its nowhere near as much as him. And no matter what, he kept going. He didn't let anyone stand in his way. Even if...even if I'm only finally realizing it...I don't want to let anyone stand in my way either. I won't change who I am for father. I will continue to be who I am, and I will get stronger on my own, with the help of friends! If you wish to kill me still then I..." Hinata once more took a fighting stance. "Then I will fight you until my last breath!"
"That won't be necessary." Neji called, seeming to have caught his breath, regardless of how much his body was in pain. "I see you, Hinata-sama." Neji smiled warmly and Hinata gasped.
"Neji-kun..." By the looks of all around, they didn't understand what was going on. Only Ten-Ten and Kurenai could decipher the meaning.
"Uh...are we missing something?" Fuu asked her bun haired friend.
"Yeah. Neji-kun said he could see Hinata-chan without the byakugan activated. Within the Hyuga clan, it's the utmost sign of love and respect. It means he can see the real her now." Ten-Ten's own anxiety from just watching the fight seemed to be fading away now.
"Hinata-sama, I've seen how you're father and others treat you. Only now do I see what that truly means. My anger was wrongfully pointed at you. The kidnapping was not your fault, and at the time you could do nothing. You are hated by the main branch and I added to that hatred with my own. I could never have seen the things you have been going through with my own callous revenge on my mind."
Neji slowly walked over to Hinata, the younger girl looking up at her big cousin with a worried expression. Neji put one hand behind Hinata and hugged her. "Why is it now...only after we have gone too far that I understand this...Hinata-sama...I could have harmed you...you could have harmed me. Yet you didn't..."
"Neji-kun...you didn't use the kaiten. I knew you had the power to change too. I could never hate you." Hinata leaned her forehead on Neji's bare shoulder.
"I am glad, Hinata...sama." Neji finally lost consciousness, slumping forward onto Hinata. Hinata unsteadily caught the teen.
"I'll take him." Gai said, at their side in the blink of an eye. Hinata relinquished Neji to Gai and wiped the rest of the tears from her face. She took one unsteady step before almost falling out too. Thankfully, Kurenai, as well as Fuu, Ino, and Ten-Ten were there to catch her.
"Th...thank you." Hinata whispered the girls. She had put her all into her defense against Neji's eight trigrams. Then she went even further to use another of the techniques that she had created and that had drained her chakra reserves even further.
"No Hinata...thank you." Ten-Ten said. Ten-Ten could feel it. She could feel the change in Neji. She had never, ever, seen Neji smile. Not his usual arrogant smirks, but the genuine smile he had shown to Hinata. She blushed realizing that she couldn't wait to be the one to receive a smile like that. "This is going to change everything."
"This makes absolutely no sense." Ibiki held his head in frustration.
"Well if you can't trust me, maybe you're really in the right profession." Anko's almost eerily calm tone made Ibiki look her in the eyes. He knew that tone. It was a mix between her being annoyed and hurt.
"I'm not saying that I don't trust you, Anko. It's just that you're story has holes in it. Just because you and the kid went to have a talk doesn't make you coming back with signs of a struggle any more understandable." That was an understatement. The two looked like they'd been through a hurricane, with pieces of grass and bushes in their hair, clothes askew and torn.
"We got a bit rough, but it was nothing my little Naruto-kun couldn't handle." Anko called, pulling the blonde close to her. Naruto for his part could do nothing but blush and hope that their half truths would be enough to fool Ibiki.
As soon as they had reached the tower, ANBU escorted them to the real Ibiki, wherein he asked too many questions for Naruto's taste. Thankfully, Anko knew how to deal with Ibiki and was able to keep what really happened hidden for the most part. Naruto himself told Ibiki of Orochimaru being in the forest, which was already well known, however, they left out the part about the Kyubi, and Anko's seal being reactivated. Other than that, they told Ibiki that Anko had gotten a bit upset, and a bit frisky, leading to Naruto having to fight halfway back to the tower.
After several gut twisting minutes under Ibiki's scrutinizing glare, the two were released. Now walking towards the main room where everyone else was, Naruto let out a sigh.
"Unbelievable. And here I thought the fox was the trickiest thing alive."
"Whatever. Be grateful that worked, because if Ibiki would have found out the truth, we'd both be locked away for a long time. Besides Orochimaru-teme and Hokage-dono, Ibiki-sama is the only other person I'm afraid of."
Naruto paused his retort when they came to an intersecting hall and two people came around a corner. Anko stopped too, looking between the two and Naruto curiously. Naruto's face dropped to neutral, a mask going up just like that.
"Naruto, Anko-san, glad to see you two are okay!" Kakashi eye smiled at the two while Sasuke stood next to him, unable to make eye contact with Naruto. Naruto did nothing but continue to glare at them. Anko took note of this and put herself slightly in front of Naruto protectively.
"What's up with him? Did you already take care of his curse mark?" Anko asked, making Kakashi's eye widen.
"Uh, is it wise to speak of that in front of him?" Kakashi immediately wished he hadn't said that as Anko's eyes narrowed and burrowed into his one visible eye.
"By him, I believe you mean Naruto, and he already knows all about the curse mark and its effects, so I don't believe that would be a problem. It was a simple question Hatake, all you have to do is answer." Regardless of if Kakashi was her commanding officer or not, Kakashi knew not to get on Anko's bad side which he was doing a shitty job at accomplishing.
Kakashi looked past Anko to see the glare Naruto himself was leveling at him. It made Kakashi feel bad for a second, and reminded him of everything Sasuke had said back in the hidden room. He sighed and explained the process of applying the over seal and what they hoped it would do for a while. The whole time Anko kept Naruto behind her, though she could feel him shifting and could only guess that he was trying his hardest not to attack Kakashi and Sasuke.
"Naruto, if it means anything. Anything at all, I'm sorry." Sasuke said when Kakashi was done talking to Anko.
"Yeah, sorry you got put in your place when I wouldn't boost your shitty ego." Naruto spat back in anger. Sasuke almost flinched, but knew the outburst was well worth it.
"I don't know if you remember what we said on the bridge in wave country Naruto..."
Naruto's eyes snapped open and his expression softened just a bit.
"Back then I said I didn't know why I jumped in the way of those needles to protect you...but that was a lie. I still remembered when me and you were best friends, before the...before what happened to my family. And even though we drifted apart, you told me that we were still friends in the forest. The night before Zabuza attacked us, we promised we would stay alive and protect each other. We promised that we would never lose to anyone else so that we could be the ones to beat each other, though I still don't see how that's going to work."
"I beat you and you beat me..." Naruto whispered, speaking the words he had said that night. Sasuke smiled a bit seeing as he seemed to be getting through to the blonde. "I still don't see how that sounds homo either."
"Really? Think about it for a second."
Naruto chuckled a bit and smiled sadly. He had to admit that he had forgotten about everything he and Sasuke promised each other back then. Somewhere along the line, their friendship had become strained until it was finally non-existent. The fact that Sasuke was reminding Naruto of the past now reminded him that they were indeed supposed to be friends. Of course, Naruto wasn't going to just instantly up and forgive Sasuke especially after he attacked Kin and Fuu in the forest, but he wasn't going to stay mad at him forever either.
"Look, I'll forgive and forget on one condition." Naruto said.
"What?"
"Stop it with the got damn ego. I get that you like being stronger than most genin, but when you need to rub it in everyone's face, it just pisses people off. Besides, I'm still as strong as you or maybe stronger now."
Sasuke rose an eyebrow at that, but when remembering what happened in the Forest of Death, couldn't deny it.
"Yo, if you two are done making up, I'd like to go take a bath and a nap, so let's get moving please." Anko called, continuing down the hall.
"Wow! The legendary Anko Mitarashi just said please! That's a first!" Naruto faked surprise while Sasuke and Kakashi stood with wide eyes when Naruto taunted the exact same Anko Mitarashi he was talking about. Anko just smiled.
"You know, Naruto-kun, I was going to let you take a bath with me. I guess since I can't say please, I won't be asking you to join me either." Jaws hit the ground as Anko walked away with a seductive switch in her step, Naruto included.
"Dude...you just fucked up..." Sasuke deadpanned.
"LIKE HELL I DID!" Naruto shouted before running to catch up with the Special Jonin.
When they reached the room, all eyes fell on them. He could tell there was a bit of tension, and his curiosity rose when he saw a tired looking Hinata and an unconscious older looking male Hinata type person, a.k.a Neji.
"NARUTO-KUN!" Two separate shouts of the same name drew his attention a second too late. Ten-Ten and Fuu both flew through the air and landed on top of Naruto. Anko had been smart to take a short step to the left to avoid the flying pair of kunoichi. And just like that, the tension was broken.
"We were so worried about you dude! What the hell happened back there?" Fuu cried into the crook of his neck.
"Yeah, why'd you run off on us like that?" Ten-Ten cried while crushing him against her chest. He was starting to get used to finding himself in positions like that. Not too long after and Hinata and Ino slowly made their way over.
"I'm glad you're okay Naruto-kun." Hinata said weakly. It was evident that she was still tired, seeing as she held back the urge to strangle both Fuu and Ten-Ten for being on top of Naruto.
"Hey, Naruto. I want to talk to you about something later." Ino spoke from Hinata's left.
"Hey! Why does Naruto have an entourage?" Kiba yelled jealously.
"...How the hell did you use that word right?" Shino questioned.
Anko smirked, but a tick mark was clearly visible on her head. "So Naruto...since when have you been this popular with the ladies?"
The tone in Anko's voice made Ten-Ten and Fuu leap up in surprise. They hid behind Ino and Hinata. "She's creepier than train!" Fuu said, Ten-Ten nodding her agreement. Anko winked at Hinata, receiving a small giggle from the girl.
"Naruto, what happened in the Forest?" Chouji was the first to ask the question that had been lingering in the back of everyone's minds. For the first time, Naruto noticed all eyes on him. However, he also noticed when some gazes shifted to Sasuke and began to turn into scowls and glares.
"Hey, easy guys! Sasuke wasn't entirely at fault in the forest either." Naruto explained.
The skeptical looks on everyone's faces told Naruto that they had a hard time believing that, but no more so than the completely evil looks coming from both Fuu and Ten-Ten. From the looks of it, Naruto could tell Ten-Ten was only seconds away from launching every weapon on her person at Sasuke.
"This is going to be pretty hard to explain, especially since I can't really tell you guys what happened to Sasuke. Just know that there's a weird mark on him that makes him go crazy!"
"What mark?"
"Where'd it come from?"
"Why does it make him act crazy?"
The questions came instantly and all at once. This time the jonin calmed down the genin with simultaneous releases of ki. All eyes fell on the jonin sensei and Naruto sighed in relief. At least that was one thing he didn't have to explain. What he did intend to explain though would probably suck worse than trying to explain Orochimaru and the war.
"Naruto won't be able to answer those questions under law. He told you literally all that he can for now." Asuma explained. Ino's infamous anger rose here.
"What! Oh come on, Asuma-sensei! How does the Hokage expect us not to wonder about what the hell we saw back there? Just because we are genin doesn't mean we can't handle a little bit of classified information!"
The group of genin surprisingly backed Ino up. Another wave of ki silenced them, however, they all still seemed antsy. Before they could become rowdy again, Naruto spoke up.
"You're right Ino. As genin, we are legally part of this villages military, albeit, the lowest rank. So since I can't reveal to you what happened to Sasuke, I can at least tell you what happened to me."
Anticipation filled the genin while dread seemed to fall upon all the jonin outside of Vash. Vash cocked an eyebrow until Fuu did several motions that only her team and sensei could possibly hope to understand. Naruto began to walk into the room, finally realizing that Sakura was not with the rest of the genin crowded in front of and around the door to the room. She still sat at the far end of the room, knees pulled up to her chest. A blush appeared on her face when she saw Naruto with Sasuke following slowly behind.
"Hey, Sakura." Naruto greeted with little emotion.
"H...Hey Naruto..." She wanted to add the endearing -kun, but decided against it. It would be best to get close to him slowly, and not freak him out. "Sasuke..." She added.
For a moment, Sasuke was a bit shocked to get such a greeting from whom he thought was his number 1 fangirl stalker. The shock subsided slowly and turned into mild confusion and curiosity. "Hn." His reply was just because he couldn't think of how to answer her after that.
With the now reunited Team 7 in front of them, all other teams in the room sat around them as if at a story telling session. The jonin stood around, knowing that if Naruto so wished to reveal his own secret, they could not stop him. They were feeling more and more powerless in this situation but only Kurenai herself was thinking of what that meant about what they knew of their students. She held her breath when Naruto began speaking but let it out when Anko put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about the brat. No matter what happens afterward, he'll be fine. It's the rest of the village I'm worried about." Anko whispered.
"Since when have you worried about the village?" Kurenai asked. Anko snorted.
"I love this village!" She paused, seeing Kurenai's cute confused face. "It's the villagers I hate. I don't know what I'd do if that dango stand got destroyed."
Kurenai face palmed. "You're unbelievable."
Naruto cleared his throat a bit. "Alright, before I begin, I want to say that there's only a handful of you in this room that I actually trust. But seeing as we're all going to be working together anyway, I'd rather you know about this sooner than later. Also, whether you accept me or hate me for what I say is up to you. I won't give a fuck one way or the other, as long as you stay out of my way afterward."
This sent chills down everyone's spines. The way Naruto spoke was as if he expected some of them to hate him afterward. Instead of voicing their opinions, they waited patiently for his explanation.
"I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. Thirteen years ago on October 10th, the Kyubi attacked Konoha. What we learned was that the Fourth Hokage, a.k.a, Minato Namikaze valiantly died fighting the monster, blah blah blah, and defeated it."
Some of the genin's face twisted when Naruto seemed to mock the person he always claimed to want to take after. It was just another indication of how much he had truly changed.
"Well, that's almost a load of bull shit. Even though I don't know exactly what happened that day, the Fourth did not beat the Kyubi. Even a ninja of his caliber could not defeat the strongest of the Tailed Beast. Let's make this fun, since I'm sure out of all of you here, you can put 2 and 2 together like Shikamaru has already."
Everyone looked over to see Shikamaru with wide eyes and mouth agape. Apparently he had already figured out what Naruto was saying. His surprised expression shifted to his thinking pose and the others took this as him refusing to spill the beans too.
"Alright, so anybody know when my birthday is?" Naruto asked. He wasn't surprised to see Hinata's hand shoot up, followed by Chouji, Shino, and Kiba. However, he was surprised to see Ino's hand among them. Looking back, Sasuke had his hand up at chest level, but Sakura still only looked confused. "Ino?"
"October 10th, the exact same day Yondaime-dono defeated the Kyubi..."
"Yep. Now, a bit of information to help you all out. Since the Yondaime couldn't defeat the Kyubi, he needed to seal it away."
Thoughtful expressions began to appear throughout the group. It was left with Lee, Ino, Chouji, and Hinata's entire team wondering what was going on. Ten-Ten, being proficient on sealing seemed to be the next to understand what Naruto was talking about as her face took on the exact expression of Shikamaru when he figured it out. She smiled warmly at Naruto with sad eyes, letting him know that his secret didn't make a difference to her. It made Naruto feel a bit more confident about how the others would feel.
"Alright, since it looks like most of you still don't get it, I'll just come out with it. I, Naruto Uzumaki, am the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tailed demon, the Kyubi no Kitsune."
The remaining genin all gasped. The tension amongst the jonin reached its peak, and even Anko found herself fidgeting and hoping for a good outcome.
"The Nine-Tailed fox...is inside of you?" Ino asked, her voice trembling. Naruto nodded sadly.
"But...what does that mean? And why you?" Kiba asked. He seemed the most frustrated by this information. It was only natural, seeing as the Kyubi had slaughtered more than its fair share of Inuzuka in its invasion.
"It means that the fox is alive and inside of me. The reason for why he chose me is because there was no weapon or item strong enough to hold back the Kyubi. Plus, if he would have decided to seal it into a person, their chakra coils would have to be big enough to survive an inflation of chakra strong enough to completely blow away all five major hidden villages. Seeing as that's impossible, the only other alternative would be someone with undeveloped chakra coils, ones that are naturally forming large, but open enough to leak out chakra at a safe rate."
"A newborn baby..." Ino breathed out, tears in her eyes.
"Surprising enough, I was the only baby born that day!" Even though this was a lie, Naruto didn't want to tell them he was the son of the Fourth Hokage just yet.
"What about your parents?" Sakura asked from behind him. Not able to think of a good lie, Naruto merely shrugged.
"Why did you think any of us would hate you, Naruto-san?" Neji had awoken just before Naruto had given his speech. Hinata's attack had did less damage than he thought.
Naruto frowned. "Well, a lot of your parents hate me. The villagers hate me. Hell, I hate me." He joked, but his mirth was not shared.
"But...why do the villagers hate Naruto if he's a hero?" Chouji asked. Asuma looked surprised.
"What do you mean Chouji?"
"Well...since the Yondaime couldn't defeat the Kyubi...that means the village would have been destroyed eventually. But since Naruto was born, he was able to seal it away! Naruto's the reason the village was saved that day! And if not for him, then the Kyubi would be out wreaking havoc right now!"
'Not really...' Naruto sweat-dropped.
The jonin were all taken aback by the words of Chouji and even more shocked to see some of the genin agreeing with him. They had expected there to be some level of resentment or at least unbelief in some of them. But looking around at them all, it didn't seem like any would arise.
"How troublesome." Guess who. "The 'adults' all probably looked past that Chouji. With the Kyubi attack fresh in their minds, they probably saw Naruto as the Kyubi and not as its jail. But I don't get why they still do. I've noticed the way they look at and treat Naruto, not to mention all the times he's been in the hospital for 'unexplainable accidents'."
Naruto was glad to hear that from Chouji and Shikamaru. He was glad that he would still have them as friends. However, it was those that had yet to speak that worried him. "So, what about the rest of you? Do any of you think I'm the Kyubi?"
Ino giggled. "I don't think the Kyubi's as cute as you Naruto-kun!" The blush that appeared on the boys face solidified her reasoning that there was no possible way someone as innocently cute as Naruto could be a ferocious demon. (Boy has she not watched anime.)
Kiba growled a bit. "It pisses me off. I can't say that I didn't think that, Naruto." Naruto frowned a bit. "But Chouji made a good point too. Besides, you haven't attacked any of us or anything like that. You're still the same Naruto I know, not the Kyubi."
"I know nothing of you to like or hate you Naruto-san. I will rely on your actions in the future to decide what to think." Neji was next. "However, if the Kyubi is truly sealed inside you, then there is no reason to believe that you yourself are the Kyubi."
Shino took a step towards Naruto. Though Naruto had said he was getting better at reading Shino's emotions through body language, when Shino stood completely still in front of him, he didn't know what to think. Then the silent boy held up his finger, pointing right in Naruto's face. A small bug was on his finger.
"What is this Naruto-san?" He asked.
"Uh...one of your clan's Kikaichu bugs?" Naruto answered a bit nervous at the proximity of the creepy crawly.
"Indeed. Is this me I am holding on my finger?" His monotone wavered just a bit as he let just a small, almost unnoticeable, hint of humor enter his voice.
"Of course not! You're not a little bug, you're Shino Aburame!" Naruto said loudly, still missing the comparison.
"Yes. I am myself, and my Kikaichu are separate entities inside of me. You are yourself, and the fox is also a separate entity inside of you."
"Ooooh, that's where you were going with that." Naruto laughed.
"I can't wait to test myself against your flames of youth Naruto-kun!" Rock Lee called and gave him the legendary 'good guy' pose, sparkling teeth included. Behind the group, Kakashi and Asuma held back Gai as he attempted to run to his youthful student and embrace him in a hug that would no doubt scar the adolescents for life.
"Should I be surprised about this?" Sasuke asked putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Because I don't think anything you tell me will surprise me anymore."
"You'd be surprised...no pun intended." Of course, Naruto was very worried about what Sasuke would say, and honestly, he was still worried. Sasuke may have seemed like he was trying to reform their friendship, but his ego couldn't be felled just like that. Sasuke had to be thinking about power of some sort. Naruto just hoped it would merely be motivation to get stronger and not something more sinister.
Sakura didn't say anything right away. She couldn't even fathom the thought of Naruto having the Kyubi inside him. It hurt her to remember when Naruto was always talked down upon by the villagers, her parents, and even her. To know the reason why Naruto was treated so bad was because of that, and she had treated him badly just to stay popular with other people. If she would have known the truth about him sooner, things would have been different...
That was a lie.
Even if she knew the truth about Naruto then, she would have probably still treated him bad for Sasuke. As long as Sasuke was there, Naruto would have always been nothing to her. The realization made her truly hate herself, but even more so everyone she thought she knew. Her own parents...they were some of the worse offenders when it came to Naruto. That hate transferred to Sakura, yes, but she was dumb enough to follow it without thinking.
"You don't have to say anything. I can see it on your face, and thank you." She jumped when Naruto spoke to her. The forgiving smile on his face made her heart flutter and she looked away, blush returning full force. She felt like she didn't deserve his forgiveness so easy. There would be more time for her to talk to him, but for now, she was content knowing that he didn't hate her.
Naruto was feeling ecstatic that everyone was taking this better than he anticipated. However, there was one person that had yet to answer him. He was turning to face said person, only to have a blur slam into him and almost knock him backwards on top of Sakura.
"You baka!" The silent voice of Hinata whispered into his ear. "Don't you ever think that I would hate you! We just got over this problem, remember?" He felt her crying into his shoulder.
"Hinata-chan..." Naruto was really dumb founded. Though Hinata had been changing, the meekness in her voice...the gentle embrace of her hug...even holding her close, he could tell just how frail the girl really was. Hinata had changed...and had stayed the same as well.
"I don't care about the fox being inside of you! As long as you stay who you are, Naruto-kun. You are Naruto Uzumaki..." She leaned in close so that only he could hear her. "Namikaze."
Naruto's eyes widened and before he could say anything, Hinata had planted a soft kiss on his cheek. The blood that rushed to his cheeks made his thoughts go from how she knew, to how soft her lips were. The embarrassment was not limited to Naruto as Hinata was just as red as he. Fuu blushed jealously, Anko's eyebrow twitched, and the other female genin could only look on with hopeful smiles.
"Are...we still waiting?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head.
"We aren't quite there yet Naruto-kun." Hinata looked around at the others. "But...I don't want to lose you to any of them either." She shyly admitted, though only Naruto heard her. Now it was Naruto's turn to get a devious grin. He walked over to Fuu and Ten-Ten and took them both by the waist, gaining surprised squeaks from them, and stunned gazes from everybody else.
"Maybe you should try just a bit harder Hinata-chan." He called with a wink. The massive amounts of ki that wafted from Anko, Kurenai, and surprisingly Neji made Naruto's false bravado drop to none.
"And what type of indication is that, neh, Naruto-kun?" Anko's demonically sweet voice sent shivers down every males spine.
"Uh...hey look, the Third Hokage!" Naruto shouted pointing towards the door. No one believed him and Fuu and Ten-Ten slowly pulled away, not wanting to be caught in the beat down the blonde was about to receive.
"Ehem." A voice from the door saved the blonde jinchuriki. All eyes turned to find the Third Hokage at the door.
"...That...is extremely ironic." Ino said.
"More like pure damn coincidence!" Shikamaru fumed. "Got damn probability and its stupid 1 to 100 ratios. Only Naruto..."
"Hokage-sama!" The jonin chorused and moved to greet their leader. He held a hand up to stop movement in the room.
"All of you, listen to me carefully." His stern voice left no room for shenanigans. "Everything that Naruto has spoken in this room is to be kept between yourselves. Naruto and Naruto alone is allowed to divulge this information to anyone else. To disobey this order is to go against Konoha itself, and there will be no hesitation in executing full punishment, even on genin."
The terrified looks on everyone's faces made the Hokage cringe at how harsh he had just spoken. Of course it was because of stress, but he should have at least tried to calm down before entering. He was already informed by Ibiki about everything that had transpired, and to say the least, he was furious. For Orochimaru to be able to infiltrate the village and even the Forest of Death all while evading capture was enough to give the old man a concussion just by thinking about it.
"If it's any consolation, I can reveal that I'm the Jinchuriki of the Seven-Tailed Stag Beetle." Fuu called, standing close to Naruto again. Once more, the genin were surprised to learn of another jinchuriki, but the shock was short lived. Apparently after learning of one, finding another wasn't so bad. "It's no secret in our village, so I guess it really doesn't matter anyway."
The Hokage shook his head. "That was information that could compromise your villages security. I advise that you refrain from doing such things, even around allies."
Fuu looked down in shame. She had really only did it because she wanted to be accepted just like Naruto. It made her so happy to see people who accepted a jinchuriki for being a person. Amegakure...well, they weren't nearly as accepting as these Konoha shinobi were.
"Now I understand that you have requested a meeting with me." Sarutobi spoke to Fuu again. Vash perked up at the mention of a meeting.
"Yes! We would very much like-" As he approached the Hokage, his foot snagged on a loose strap of his trench coat. He stumbled forward, tried to catch his balance, and somehow did a 90 degree turn. The room fell deadly silent when his fall was broken...by Kurenai's chest. Asuma's cigarette fell from his now gaping mouth.
"..." The blush that appeared on the woman put even Hinata to shame. It only got worse as Vash flailed his hands around until they landed on the two mounds his face was buried between.
"Wot err ese?" (What are these?) Vash's muffled voice coincided with several squeezes to Kurenai.
"..."
The ground began to shake. Vash slowly began to lean up, his sight traveling past two large cloth covered breast to the enraged face of the youngest jonin in Konoha. A tick mark appeared.
"Uh...heh..." Vash nervously gave the woman another squeeze.
"YOU PERVERTED MOTHER FUCKER!"
The resulting explosion from the most epic uppercut Kurenai had ever delivered in her life, which would promptly be named the shin-shoryuken in generations to come, sent every bystander in the vicinity smashing into walls on all sides of the room. However, with the black burn marks on the ground to show the sheer power that the jonin had unleashed, there was an untouched patch of ground around none other than the target of her feminine wrath. Vash, and the Hokage of course, stood unharmed amidst the destruction that Kurenai had wrought.
"Uh...about that meeting." Vash called and the Hokage quickly shunshined them from the room.
Kurenai growled and began to stomp away, dropping more swear words than many people learned in their whole lives. The remnants of the Konoha 12 plus their jonin sensei's and the Ame team began to emerge from the wreckage. When they were all up and confirmed alive, Anko leaned on to Naruto.
"Hey Naruto-kun. Remember that list of people I said I was scared of?"
Naruto nodded.
"Put Kurenai-chan at the top..."
Holy crap, this chapter took too got damn long to type. It's 2: 30 in the morning right now because I refused to go to sleep before I finished this one. I want to find a flow to keep up with updates so that you all never have to wait another three months for one post. I hope the length at least made up for that.
I'm pretty sure it's in chapter 4, but I stated that Fuu's team is from Amegakure because Takigakure was destroyed prior to this story and rebuilt as Amegakure. (This is not canon, nor did I intend to follow canon in the first place. Otherwise, this wouldn't be a fanfic.) To truly understand how I write, I've put up explanations and what you could call warnings on my profile. That includes my takes on "Bashing" and "Fem Haku/Kyubi".
Also like I said on my profile, the things I change will have a reason. So yes, there is a reason much deeper than what anyone can guess as to why I had Takigakure destroyed and rebuilt as Amegakure, and it has a HUGE part to do with Fuu's storyline in this tale.
This chapter was actually scary to even me. I had a good flow in the beginning, but near the middle it seemed like I had run out of ideas to transition the story from one part to the next. Then I ended up dragging on Naruto's confession a bit too long and ended up cutting this chapter before I reached the point that I wanted to, being the next morning.
I also understand that some of the emotions seemed to progress a bit fast, including Naruto up and forgiving both Sakura and Sasuke. Just know that they are ATTEMPTING to make amends. This does not mean that everything is perfect between any of them just yet.
And sorry, but no, Hinata and Naruto are still not officially together. Setting up a harem here, I want to have most of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place all at once. However, I will try to explain how Hinata knows of Naruto's heritage in the next chapter.
As for everyone accepting the fact that Naruto has the Kyubi, I pretty much used the whole "kunai sealed in scroll" argument but...without using that cliché argument. I like the idea, but I'm pretty sure most of you expected to see it. (Ha, take that!)
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Kin. I'll be showing a bit more of her, but that's all I can tell you for now.
SO! I hope this answers a lot of questions and opens up even more! Tell me what you think, what you want to see, and where you think this is going! I...will be going to start on the next chapter now. Reese's Pieces and Happy Holidays!