Chapter 11-Bloodlust
The next day came faster then anyone expected it would and the moods of the people in the tower varied from team to team as well as the senseis of said teams. Kakashi appeared some time the next day looking peeved at Team 8, but didn't say why, though Naruto had known it was due to Team 7 failing the second part of the exam when they didn't line up with those that did, and Kakashi was here to see Kurenai's team fail.
That and steal a few Jutsu's for Sasuke to use against Naruto later on.
Of course, the old monkey of a Hokage explained the reason behind the Chuunin Exams for being an alternative to war, and keeping the peace between nations so it doesn't result in the loss of countless lives. It was boring as hell, but in a way it was still educational, and had it not been for wanting to beat the crap out of Kabuto, he would have ratted him out to the Hokage sooner. The fact that the four eyed traitor had stayed rather then leave indicated that Orochimaru had deviated from the original plan for his loyal servant now that the man's teammates had been decimated.
"Now since we have so few yet still large group of young Genin present, we are going to have a set of Preliminary matches to see who qualifies for the third part of the finals," said Sarutobi hearing the Nara say "troublesome" with Ino bashing him in the head with her fist while Choji ate chips.
Just like their parents did in their day.
Once it was over, the group of Shinobi consisting of Suna's team, Kabuto, Sound's team, and Konoha Leaf Teams 6, 8, and 9 above waiting for the board to run through names.
Subaku no Kankuro VS Hyuuga Neji
"This will be interesting," said Naruto seeing Neji and Kankuro walk down the steps to prepare for battle.
"Ready to taste tile?" said Kankuro smirking at the Hyuuga, who remained calm, and prepared himself to attack.
"Such arrogance is not becoming of a Shinobi," said Neji getting into his Gentle Fist stance.
"Hajime!" said the proctor Gekko Hayate bringing his hand down to start the match.
"Byakugan!" said Neji activating his bloodline and smirking at the hidden secret behind Kankuro's puppetry.
'I don't like that smirk,' thought Kankuro before he saw Neji move behind him and hit the wrapped bundle Kankuro was holding.
The end result was the puppet user being revealed to be the puppet while the puppeteer was hidden away in the bandages that everyone thought was the puppet.
"He forgot that the Byakugan can see the difference between the real and the fake," said Neji before walking away after being declared the winner.
'Kankuro you dumbass!' thought Temari since the trio needed to be apart of the finals in order to carry out the invasion plan.
Temari would have thought some other things to say about Kankuro or ways to hurt him later on, but her attention was redrawn back to the board, and two new names appeared.
Aburame Shino VS Yamanaka Ino
"Aw man! Why do I have to get one of the creepy ones?" said Ino walking down the steps while Shino's eyebrow twitched slightly since it wasn't uncommon for girls to call his clan members creepy.
It still wasn't very nice.
"Go easy on her Shino. Remember she's still getting out of her fan-girl stage and needs a proper push in the right direction like Tenten is doing," said Naruto seeing Tenten blush at his praise while Shino nodded and turned towards Ino, who got into a sloppy Academy Taijutsu stance, and while it showed Ino was indeed still a fan-girl she was getting out of it.
"Hajime!" said Hayate having a feeling he knew how this was going to end.
"I'm sorry if my bugs offend you," said Shino unleashing a swarm of bugs at her making Ino screamed out in fright before running behind the proctor and saying she gave up.
'Note to self: have Anko beat the fan-girl out of her,' thought Naruto with Anko having similar thoughts going through her head only with more sadistic methods in mind.
Kinuta Dosu VS Nara Shikamaru
"Well...at least I'm lucky I don't have to fight a troublesome girl," said Shikamaru, who then got shoved over the railing by Ino, and since she was still sensitive about her recent defeat her fury was all the more potent.
'You are also unlucky to have an angry girl on your team that heard you say your every word, dumbass!' thought Naruto seeing the boy get up from the imprint he made from the fall.
"Are you ready to fight?" said Hayate seeing Shikamaru grimace at Ino, who pointed a commanding finger to go forth, and win the match for the team.
"Is there any way you can have Ino take my place?" said Shikamaru smirking at Ino, who let loose a string of curses with a red face to match, and it made Naruto start laughing at the Nara's paling face.
"Care to repeat the question?" said Hayate letting out a strong coughing fit.
"No I'm good let's start the match," said Shikamaru, as he ignored Ino's ranting about lazy baka's, and how they should all be castrated with rusty kunai to make them become more alert.
"Hajime!" said Hayate, who was in full agreement, and started the match before any more attention could be brought to the Yamanaka.
"Die weakling!" said Dosu moving straight at Shikamaru, who instantly created hand signs trapping the surprised mummy man inches from his intended striking distance, and found himself being forced into a humiliating pose.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu is a complete success. Now the question on everyone's mind is what to do with you," said Shikamaru smirking before putting his hands on the opposite sides of his face.
"How did you react so quickly? I was moving too fast! Aren't you Nara's considered the sloths of your teams?" said Dosu earning some chuckles from the stands above while the young Nara below them just sighed.
"Troublesome. If you did your homework thoroughly, you would know that while Nara's aren't exactly speed demons like Gai and his mini me, our clan is known for being great strategist, and after seeing you in the classroom for the first part of the exam I knew that you were a close range guy. Your bracers are designed for close combat and your best bet in hurting someone was to get right in their face to do it meaning you were picked to be cannon fodder while your team flanks the enemy while you distract them. Problem is that when it's just you, the attack is predicable, and depending on your enemy it's not difficult to beat you," said Shikamaru smirking at Dosu before slamming his fists into his face while Dosu did the same.
The only difference was the bracers on Dosu knocked him out while Shikamaru just had to massage a slightly bruised face. Within moments of the mummy man was down, Nara Shikamaru was declared the winner of the match, and the Leaf won another victory over another Shinobi village.
'Another short and sweet one. What is that now? Three in a row?' thought Naruto, as he saw Dosu carried away while Shikamaru made it up the stairs getting a thumbs up from Choji and a headlock from Ino telling him never to bring her into things that she didn't need to be brought into.
Tsuchi Kin VS Rock Lee
"YOSH! Now I show my Flames of Youth to everyone Gai-sensei!" said Lee jumping onto the ground floor ready to fight while Kin looked green in the face at facing such a strange Shinobi, but submitted to her fate since forfeiting was out of the question, and losing in the Preliminaries would no doubt be worse of Orochimaru found out.
'Kami please let him have a heart attack before the match starts,' thought Kin now on the opposite side of Lee with the proctor almost wishing the board had chosen a different combatant for Lee or Kin that was equivalent to their skill level.
Maybe in another lifetime.
"Hajime!" said Hayate while wondering who was running the board in putting such quick matches together.
"I do not wish to hurt a woman so if you would kindly surrender I can avoid hurting you in an unyouthful manner," said Lee making everyone sweat drop and look at Gai, who was ecstatic about Lee's behavior, and praised him for it.
'Whoever said chivery was dead never met those two,' thought Naruto looking at Gai and Lee before seeing Kin glare at Lee before throwing senbon needles with bells attached to them.
Lee of course caught them with a grin on his face, but stopped when the bells connected to the senbon needles hit him with a Genjutsu using sound to make him fall asleep, and before Lee could catch on he was getting dizzy. Seeing her chance, Kin threw several more senbon needles that hit Lee's pressure points through his spandex clothes, which increased the effect of the sound Genjutsu, and made Taijutsu specialist of Team 9 fall asleep.
The howl of agony of defeat from Gai shook the tower for a good 10 minutes.
"That was...embarrassing," said Tenten with Neji banging his head against the railing at having such a baka of a teammate that believed in shivery first rather then victory in a fight.
'Lee you chivery indulging baka. I guess I'll get him some ear plugs when he wakes up so this doesn't happen again next time,' thought Naruto seeing the medics take out the senbon needles and free the now awakening Genin from his slumber.
Again a howl of agony ripped through the tower shaking it for another 10 minutes.
'Note to self: Learn how to put a Sound Dampener Jutsu on the human mouth,' thought Sarutobi not wanting to become depth at his old age just yet.
Yakushi Kabuto VS Namikaze Naruto
'How poetic,' thought Shino seeing Kabuto look at Naruto carefully while heading down to the steps with Naruto following, but not before Hinata gave him a kiss on the lips, and told him to be careful.
"Hurt him," said Hinata in a whispery voice and Naruto nodded knowing that traitors like Kabuto deserved to feel pain.
"No problem," said Naruto kissing her forehead and headed down the stairs seeing the stance Kabuto was in not seeing Gaara staring his bloodthirsty eyes at Hinata.
"I had hoped to avoid fighting you here in this place Naruto, but it seems Kami had some other things in mind when we were chosen for this moment," said Kabuto pushing his glasses up and drew a kunai to his hand.
"Why? So you can report back to Orochimaru you traitor," said Naruto sensing the Leaf Jounin around them and Kabuto narrowed his eyes.
"Hokage-sama, if what Naruto just said is true, then we should arrest, and interrogate the man for further questioning," said Anko ready to pounce on the supposed traitor, but the old Hokage held his hand out to stop them, and motioned for Hayate to start the match.
"We will let the fight continue. Win or lose Kabuto is not going anywhere," said Sarutobi knowing that Naruto was going to pass the round regardless so long as the boy didn't die.
"As you wish Hokage-sama," said Anko though she would keep an eye on the match, as she didn't want to lose her mate's son to Orochimaru.
"Hajime!" said Hayate stepping back to let the two combatants go at it.
Kabuto moved forward finding there to be no reason in holding back his true power and attacked Naruto with all the strength he could muster. Naruto drew his own kunai making it a duel of sorts with their free hands holding the other in place so they couldn't be used against them. Each combatant now had cut marks on them with Kabuto's healing slowly before the Namikaze's eyes and his own cuts still there without the healing power of the Kyuubi to heal it.
"Your skills are impressive Naruto and here I thought you doing all the things my card said about you were false," said Kabuto grinning at Naruto, who narrowed his eyes, and at the ones behind the glasses before leaning back throwing Kabuto over to the other side of the arena only for him to land on his feet.
"It's a shame I can't show you the memories of that day when I did all those things I did in Wave Country. Maybe then you'll finally piss yourself just like you are now trying to fight back from doing," said Naruto seeing Kabuto frown at the Namikaze for that insult and moved forward at surprising speed that made it clear to everyone above this guy was no Genin.
He was Jounin level.
Another fact that became clear when Kabuto used chakra scalpels on both his hands as a weapon against Naruto, who dodged the attacks if just barely, and drew Trickster to his hands to counter this attack. Hinata had been working on this for some time and began yelling out to him what it does if used as a weapon making Naruto tense even more since the last thing he needed right now was for this guy to get in a good killing shot.
"Elemental Kenjutsu Fire Style: Hell's Sword Jutsu!" said Naruto tuning his blade into an inferno of fire that made everyone that had not seen it stare wide eyed in shock.
'Now that's interesting,' thought Kabuto looking at the tower of fire that was the Nodachi blade's form.
"Let's see you risk your body any harm now. You may have impressive healing powers Kabuto, but not even that will save you from this, and I will see to it that you are never the same again," said Naruto holding his blade at the ready while Kabuto was calculating the odds of success in his head.
'Moving against him with what I have is dangerous. It took all of yesterday to recover from my injuries against him and I'm still not up to full strength. Even if I won against him, the Hokage would have his pawns swarm against me, and take me into custody in an instant resulting in the failed plans for the invasion,' thought Kabuto before he took a small step back, but just as he did so, Naruto moved quickly becoming nothing more then a blur in the process making the four eyed man tense up before jumping into the air in order to miss a horizontal slice that would have cut him in half if not incinerating him as well.
Seeing his prey leap into the air, Naruto followed up after Kabuto before cancelling the Fire Kenjutsu, and made hand signs for another for a different element.
"Elemental Kenjutsu Water Style: Water Snake Prison Jutsu!" said Naruto now finding it difficult to use as much chakra as he needed due to Orochimaru's seal that the Sannin hit his body with.
The Nodachi that was once covered in flame was now turned into pure water that came alive and struck out like a snake at a surprised Kabuto. The spy tried to get away, but it became impossible since he was still in the air, and substitution right now would only make the Hokage send out all available Shinobi looking for him. Before the man could even begin to use substitution, Kabuto found himself was wrapped around completely in the water, and after Naruto maneuvered to jumping off the guard rail with his opponent still imprisoned, he landed on his feet sweat a bit more while Kabuto found his escape useless at this point.
'Damn it! If only Orochimaru-sama hadn't wished me to stay,' thought Kabuto wishing he had more training with his Sannin teacher to break free from this and do more.
"Please struggle so I can hurt you more," said Naruto using his chakra to compress the water around Kabuto feel like he was in a trash compactor.
"Proctor I give up! Declare him the winner," said Kabuto through the prison of water while straining not to be crushed by it.
"Winner is Namikaze Naruto!" said Hayate seeing a squad of ANBU surround them now ready to take the prisoner.
Naruto eyed Kabuto carefully before cancelling the Kenjutsu and took several steps back breathing somewhat heavily finding his chakra was being a pain in the ass right now. As for Kabuto, he was quickly taken by the ANBU to hold for further interrogation by Ibiki, and the Hokage gave Naruto a look saying they would talk about this later.
Walking up the stairs, Naruto sat down tired before holding his stomach where the seal was acting up, and he wanted Hinata give him some of her medical cream she created to use on his wounds from when he got into the close quarters kunai fight with Kabuto. He smiled at Hinata and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek making her blush a very cherry based red since many people saw that.
There moment ended however, when the next two names came to the board, and it made several Shinobi in the room turn white with fear.
Subaku no Gaara VS Hyuuga Hinata
"Be careful and should things get dicey remember there is no shame in giving up," said Naruto seeing Hinata nod knowing that Gaara was not to be underestimated and should be fought with caution.
"I'll be careful. I love you Naruto-kun," said Hinata whispering the last part and kissed him quickly on the lips.
"I love you too," said Naruto seeing Hinata smile and made her way down the steps while Gaara appeared in whirl of sand.
"You will make a good offering to Mother," said Gaara his bloodlust filling his eyes that made the Jounins assembled and the Hokage for that matter nervous.
"Hajime!" said Hayate while suppressing a shiver that ran down his spine at the look of cold emptiness that the boy from Suna created.
Instantly, the sand from Gaara's gourd shot out aiming for Hinata, who moved quickly to avoid the attacks, and ran through hand signs for her own Jutsu.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" said Hinata using her elemental affinity for water, the moisture in the air from Naruto's last fight, and the left over water from his attack that had imprisoned Kabuto to make him the victor.
The Water Jutsu itself was C-ranked, but the fact that she could create it, and then be able to unleash it to affectively on the sand that became mudded from the impact of the Jutsu. Gaara however, was not concerned about such things, and used the dry sand he had with more from the gourd at Hinata. Hinata herself, decided to go on the close range offensive with her Gentle Fist.
Maneuvering with grace and flexibility, Hinata dodged Gaara's sand until she was able to get in striking range of the red headed boy, and struck out against him with a powerful thrust from her open palm at his head filled with chakra. It had surprised her when she struck Gaara that right after she struck him, it was revealed to be a sand clone with Gaara now behind her, and the psychotic grin now covered his face spelled doom for the young Hyuuga.
"You are strong Hyuuga. Now I will crush you in front of the one you love and prove my existence. 'Sand Coffin!'" said Gaara using the sand that now surrounded her to trap her in a cocoon like form hovering in the air with her mouth covered in sand so she couldn't forfeit the match.
"Proctor call the match! Gaara is going to kill her!" said Naruto seeing the look of fear in Hinata's eyes when she saw the same thing he did.
"Yes I agree. The winner of this match is Subaku no Gaara. Please remove her from the sand Gaara-san," said Hayate hoping the boy would listen to his words and let Hinata go.
He didn't.
"Why? Mother says I should kill her for her blood. Mother always knows best," said Gaara, as his grinned widened and he began putting pressure on Hinata's form with his sand breaking several bones while his captive screamed out in pain with tears coming out of her eyes.
Above them, Naruto heard her pain like nails on a chalkboard ringing in his ears, and just acted without thinking in jumping off the railing to get to her even after multiple Jounin around him moved to surround Gaara. Even Baki, the kid's own sensei was pleading for Gaara to stop, but the psychotic boy wasn't listening to them, and with blinding speed he dove right for Hinata before reaching the sand that was wrapped around her.
He cupped Hinata's face telling her to hold on while Hinata looked back with pain filled eyes, as her body felt like it had been mauled by an animal, and she prayed Naruto could free her from this death trap. Acting quickly, Naruto summoned all the chakra his body had left, and created a massive Water Dragon Jutsu that at point blank range weakened the sand enough for Hinata to fall to the ground whimpering in pain with Naruto beside her while the medics came to take her away.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I lost. I thought I could win, but I couldn't beat him. I failed you," said Hinata holding onto his hand barely feeling it with all the pain in her body right now.
"You're still alive Hinata-chan. That's what matters," said Naruto before reaching for the bottom of his sheath for his sword and uncapped it revealing a liquid that fell into the detached end.
Giving it to Hinata, she drank the contents, and felt the pain going away before she fell into unconsciousness just in time for the medics to take her away to the Hospital to heal.
While this was happening, Gaara snarled at the sat and ignored the pleas of Baki to calm down before he created an incident that Suna couldn't handle right now. Seeing how the Hyuuga was being taken away to be healed made Gaara angry and would have struck out to grab her with his sand again when he felt something dark cover the room. It wasn't just dark; it was evil, cruel, and full of malice that surpassed his own bloodthirsty demon that called for the blood of the Hyuuga girl. The direction of it came from the blonde haired Namikaze, who was a good 15 feet from him breathing heavily while looking at the girl that had just been crushed, and around the boy's chest Gaara noticed the seal sparking with purple energy that was fighting crimson energy. The look of fury on Naruto's face when he turned to stare at Gaara was frightening to everyone that felt the darkness the Namikaze created with some of them now wondering if the Yondaime's seal had been broken?
The Sandaime knew better though, having seen what Orochimaru did to the seal after Naruto showed him the results of it from the Forest of Death, and how it covered the boy's seal creating the interference in it. Naruto's anger was causing an intense of flux of charka from his own system into the seal Orochimaru hit him with, combined with the Kyuubi's own that came out of the Shinigami Seal already was straining the Five Prong Seal on two fronts, and the crude sealing the Sannin had done couldn't take any more of it for much longer while the boy in question turned fully to face Gaara.
"Naruto, I need you to calm down and...," said the Sandaime, but his words fell of on depth ears, as Naruto wasn't hearing them, and before anyone knew it they saw Naruto walk up to Gaara now standing face to face with the calm looking boy from Suna.
"Let him continue into the finals," said Naruto, as his face was mere inches away from Gaara, who found that his sand wasn't coming out to defend him, and it was strange for the red haired boy.
"Naruto I'm afraid I can't...," said the Sandaime only to be met with more killer intent making the others around him nervous.
"Let Subaku no Gaara into the finals...so I can kill him. So I can kill him right in front of everyone! I want to do this in a legitimate setting where I can cut lose and show exactly what I can do to those who hurt people I care about," said Naruto his eyes changing from crimson to blue, from pupils to slits, and his teeth sharpening in the process while staring a hole into Gaara's tattooed head.
"Naruto you are not thinking clearly. Hinata...," said the Sandaime, who was interrupted again, but not by Naruto's words, and rather by the stare the boy was giving him before turning back to Gaara with a look of fury even Gaara knew to be wary of.
"Come the Chuunin Exam finals...your ass is mine!" said Naruto before walking out not needing to see the rest of the fights, but he stopped to look at Shino, and the boy nodded indicating he would stay to watch.
"Naruto! Get back here or else you will be disqualified!" said Kakashi walking down the steps to grab the boy only to be stopped by Asuma, who shook his head not to interfere in this, and pulled the Cyclops Jounin away.
Naruto had walked out of the tower, his anger rising with each second that passed, and he could feel the seal being strained against the two chakras running through his body. He didn't care of course since the person that mattered right now was in pain, going to the Hospital, and he had done nothing to avenge her back in that arena floor except numb her pain with a natural sedative from his sheath.
'Why? Why can't I do more? What is holding me back from going in there and tearing that asshole's head clean off?' thought Naruto before collapsing into the dirt his hands turned fists his body now sparking blue, purple, and crimson chakra.
Images plagued his mind of Hinata, her pain, her fear, and the suffering that she went through at the hands of Subaku no Gaara with his sadistic smirk that covered his face. Naruto's face contorted with fury, his hands bleeding from his nails piercing skin, and his body was now sparked violently with 3 different types of chakra.
Raising his head to the sky, Naruto let out a blood curdling scream, as his body exploded with chakra, and the Five Prong Seal was destroyed in the process releasing a tower of chakra that shot out to the sky.
"GAAAAAAARRRRRRAAAAA!" yelled Naruto his voice beyond that of a human being and let the chakra around him tear up everything around his body.
(With Sesshomaru and Kurenai)
Sesshomaru stopped instantly sensing something was terribly, as wave after wave of pure demonic energy could be felt coming from Konoha, and was being mixed with human energy that were filled with dark emotions. Emotions like anger, hate, and sorrow all screaming out in a fury the Demon Lord had only seen in two other people that had such expressive fury in them.
His Father and half-brother when they were angry.
Angry at someone for hurting the one they care about.
"Sesshomaru-kun, what's wrong?" said Kurenai before she felt it too and with her being a Genjutsu master she had a good identification sense when it came to chakra signatures.
"Its Naruto. He's in pain," said Sesshomaru narrowing his eyes and before stretching out his senses to locate him and find out what was wrong.
"In pain? As in someone attacking him?" said Kurenai looking back at the direction of Konoha wondering what was happening to her student.
"No. This is far worse. He can off shrug his own pain. It's someone else's he cares about that is creating this," said Sesshomaru sensing the beast inside of Naruto unleashing the demonic power after being held back by something that like a dam only to burst from the intense pressure.
"Hinata! It's the only explanation," said Kurenai worried for her second student now knowing that the two were incredibly close.
"We must complete our mission. That is a must. Naruto will make sure Hinata does not die so we must retrieve this Slug Sannin to make sure she does not die later on," said Sesshomaru, as he scooped Kurenai up, and rushed off to their intended destination that was not that far away.
(Back in Konoha)
The immense spike of what was considered to be unfathomable power was felt by all in the Leaf village and many wondered if the fox demon was finally breaking free. The two Councils had convened the very next day, demanding that a full investigation be led by their team of experts while the Hokage told them the situation with Gaara hurting Hinata. It was also the reason why Hiashi looked so serious right now with his wife visiting the Hospital every so often to see their daughter.
"So the Kyuubi wants a shot at Suna's own vessel. Why not? It will further show that our weapon is superior to theirs," said Danzo earning him a heated glare from the Hokage for his choice of words.
"Naruto is not a weapon and never will be so long as I'm Hokage. What's more is that when we interrogated Yakushi Kabuto and learned that Sound was planning to attack us during the Chuunin Exams. They were going to receive the help of Suna using Gaara as a key element in our destruction though we don't know how since Kabuto escaped with the help of some unknown individuals. As it currently stands now, only Gaara, and his sister Temari have officially qualified for the exams after she killed the Sound Shinobi Zaku during the preliminaries by cutting him in half with her Wind Jutsu. The only one from the team that is from Sound to qualify was Tsuchi Kin after beating Rock Lee using sound Genjutsu with her bells after Gai's student tried to revive the ways of...chivery," said Sarutobi getting a chuckle out of that one since Gai was working Lee even harder while having the boy train his senses to turn them on or off at will should such a thing ever happen again.
"What of our own participants? I heard the last Uchiha didn't make it in. Surely we can find one of our participants to step down to let him take their place?" said Homura seeing the Hokage once more scowl again, as did several Clan Heads, and the old Councilman knew that wasn't good.
"The Uchiha can't, due to his Curse Seal being sealed, and he needs to be monitored due being exposed to it so soon. Shibi's son here gave a full report since Naruto returned back to the Namikaze Estate after sneaking into the Hospital to see Hinata when he learned that someone here authorized a ban from there on him without my final approval," said Sarutobi seeing Shibi nod at information concerning what happened with Sasuke while several Clan Heads had their eyebrows raised at knowing that Naruto had been banned from the Hospital of all places.
"Speaking of the so called 'Namikaze', where is he right now, and should we consider him to be a threat to us," said the Haruno Councilwoman, as her daughter had told her how the other teams left them after knocking Sasuke unconscious, and leaving them with only the two scrolls they needed to pass.
"He's back home training. I visited him after seeing my daughter in the Hospital and I could tell from the look in his eyes that Subaku no Gaara will not make it out of these Chuunin Exam Finals alive," said Hiashi remembering having seen the boy's eyes filled with anger, pain, regret, and sorrow for what happened with Hinata.
(Flashback)
Hiashi walked to the Namikaze Estates, which were just a quick walk from the Hyuuga Compound, and saw that it was the girl Haku that opened the door. She had a serious and worried expression on her face having heard about Hinata from Naruto. The worried look Haku gave though showed she was worried about Naruto's mental state right now and Hiashi knew that if the boy was to calm down even in the slightest it would be through his presence.
Walking to the training grounds out back, Hiashi saw it looked like a warzone, as Naruto had created hundreds of Shadow Clones armed with his sword, kunai, and the family's Taijutsu style. However, what frightened Hiashi somewhat was the look in the boy's eyes that the man had not seen since the day of the Yondaime, and that was when the man had unleashed his Hiarishin Jutsu upon Iwa's forces in the last war.
"I'll leave you two to talk. He feels really bad about what happened to Hinata-san. Please talk to him before this rage consumes him," said Haku before heading to the Hospital to check up on Hinata seeing as her medical skills could help and she could assist in giving Naruto any updates on her condition after that rude nurse told them about the ban that had been placed on Naruto from entering.
The said nurse got socked in the face into another room seconds later before Naruto had visited Hinata and left within moments of the ANBU arriving. They would have pursued him when Haku asked if the Hokage authorized such a ban, which made the ANBU in front of her nervous meaning that it was not, and she told them if they pursued she would be then happy to press charges against them.
"Naruto-san, I would like to speak to you for a moment," said Hiashi amidst sounds of the harsh battle harsh going on before him.
Instantly, the clones stopped attacking the original, and then dispersed since there was no real reason to have them around anymore since Hiashi had come to talk.
"Hiashi-sama," said Naruto his voice hollow, tired, and full of hate at a foe Hiashi knew was awaiting him in the Chuunin Exam Finals.
"You don't need to be so polite Naruto. Hiashi-san will do for this conversation. I came to speak to you about, who you will be facing in the Exam Finals a Month from now," said Hiashi seeing the boy's seriousness not leave his face and the man wondered if this serious look was how all Hyuuga Clan look when serious.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I get Gaara in the end I don't care," said Naruto his eyes filled with so much fury that the Hyuuga Head didn't need to use his Byakugan to see the faint hint of crimson chakra that swirled around the boy like a cloak.
"I also wanted to talk to you about Hinata," said Hiashi seeing the boy flinch like he had been struck in the face by something heavy.
"If you or your wife do not wish for me to be around Hinata-san anymore outside of us being on a team, then I will concede to your reasoning, and not speak to her," said Naruto now seeing it was Hiashi's turn to flinch at that knowing that if that were the case, then Hinata would be upset, and he would rather not have an angry daughter in his house.
Because if Hinata got upset, then Hitomi got upset, and that meant no love for Hiashi at night.
"I do not blame you for what happened to Hinata when she fought against Suna's Subaku no Gaara. In fact, I would have blamed you had you not done anything to save her, and I wish to extend to you now how grateful I am that you came to her aid," said Hiashi now bowing to the boy much to the young Namikaze's shock.
"I was too little too late," said Naruto his eyes filled with sorrow wishing he had done more.
"You saved her from death and to me that is what matters. You don't know this, but your Father left on a mission with your sensei to find Tsunade of the Sannin, who is the best medic in the Elemental Countries, and when they bring her back the first person she is going to heal is Hinata," said Hiashi seeing Naruto's eyes have a sense of relief in them at that, but the pain is still there, and it wasn't going away.
"How is Hinata after I visited her yesterday?" said Naruto finding it most satisfying that the bitch of the nurse was out of commission with a black eye for her to see in the mirror in the morning knowing that the "demon" had done that.
"Recovering well actually thanks to you numbing the pain with what you gave her from your sword's sheath. Haku is assisting in Hinata's recovery as well and if you wish you can visit her later on the week to see for yourself," said Hiashi seeing Naruto brighten up at that since no one would dare fight the power of the Hyuuga Clan Head if he said that Naruto could see her.
"I will do that and for what its worth Hiashi, I believe Hinata fought well given Gaara's condition with what he holds inside of him, and the bloodlust the boy has for all things that stand in his way," said Naruto seeing Hiashi nod having heard as much from Neji with his Byakugan in seeing Gaara's chakra coils laced with a yellowy chakra.
"I know. Hinata gets her strength from you Naruto. Everyday she fights beyond all forms of limitations because she knows you do it too and wishes to show that she can keep up if only for a little while. You cherish Hinata and for that I find you are the only one worthy of courting her. All I want from you now Naruto, is your solemn promise that you will make Subaku no Gaara pay for what he did to Hinata, and that you return the honor that was stolen from her," said Hiashi seeing the boy nod his head at him and the Hyuuga Clan Head knew the boy would deliver.
Hiashi would wager his eyes on it.
"Hinata will get it. I swear it she will. If I don't...you can have the honor of having my head taken off," said Naruto see looking at Hiashi and the man knew the boy meant those words though he knew it would never come down to that.
"I'll leave you to your training then and delay you no further," said Hiashi bowing once more before leaving so the young Namikaze could collect his thoughts.
Naruto looked in his direction for a second longer before summoning another army of Shadow Clones telling to fight harder and they obeyed by charging at him with their weapons ready to be used.
(End Flashback)
'Subaku no Gaara doesn't stand a chance,' thought Hiashi seeing the Council deliberating more on where to set up defenses throughout Konoha the day of the Exam.
(Konoha Hosptial-3 Days Later)
Naruto walked to the Hospital ignoring the glares, pointing, and the names like "demon" or "the beast" that came with them. He entered the Hospital, ignoring the staff telling him to get out, and some of the Shinobi trying to stop him only for them to be thrown against a wall by the demon vessel. Walking to the room Haku told him she was in, Naruto had opened the door revealing Hinata resting with her body mostly in a cast on her limbs with a few wrappings around her waist, and when he entered she had a loving expression on her face at seeing him.
"Sorry I didn't come sooner. For a while, I kind of thought you wouldn't want me to visit you, but your dad spoke to me, and he said I could visit you when I could," said Naruto, as he had been diving into his training nonstop, and decided today would be a good day to visit.
"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm actually glad you came now since I've been asleep for most of the past few days. The doctors have been able to heal some of my minor wound so there is no major damage, but some of my other wounds require a skilled medic of Sannin level like Senju Tsunade," said Hinata seeing Naruto was slowly reaching for her hand that had nearly been covered by the cast.
"My dad's looking for Tsunade right now with our sensei. I want her to heal you first when she gets here," said Naruto seeing Hinata smile at him and if she could move she would have to hug and kiss him.
"That's good to hear. I'm sorry I couldn't beat Gaara like you thought I could. I must seem so pathetic right now in your eyes," said Hinata looking away slightly only to feel the hand of her love caressing her cheek.
"You're wrong. I'm the failure. I should have destroyed him after you were taken away by the medics, but I didn't, and I just stood there glaring at him afterwards telling the Hokage to let him pass. I'm not worthy of your love," said Naruto his eyes downcast and Hinata looked at him with surprised eyes.
"But you are worthy Naruto-kun!" said Hinata before blushing in embarrassment at her outburst wishing she could push her fingers together.
"Not until I destroy Gaara. I already spoke about it with Hiashi. Should I fail to regain your honor, I would willingly offer up my head for him to take, and end my life without regret," said Naruto seeing Hinata's eyes go wide with surprise.
"WHAT?!" yelled out Hinata with her voice breaking several windows, vases, and the glasses of several doctors in the building.
"Your Father didn't make that stipulation. I did. I wanted to show him that I was willing to surrender my life for you," said Naruto seeing Hinata's eyes fill with tears at what he just told her.
"Father has some explaining to do," said Hinata before her eyes narrowed and turned to Naruto, who had a blank unreadable look on his face, and Hinata wished she could snap him out of it.
"Don't blame your Father for this Hinata-chan. It's because of him that I had the courage to visit you in the Hospital in the first place and see the path I need to take. I won't lose to Gaara so I'm not going to die. Not after we grow old together with Haku," said Naruto seeing Hinata, who let the anger leave her, and was replaced by happiness at his words seeing some of the warmth in them once more return.
"Promise me you'll win," said Hinata knowing that with the promise made, Naruto could not lose to anyone, and while many thought such things were moronic to believe she had seen him time after time succeed by doing just that.
"I promise," said Naruto looking her dead in the eyes when he spoke to her.
He wouldn't leave her side for hours.
(2 Days Later)
Naruto was feeling better having completed several hours of training though Haku had told him that he needed to relax a bit at the local hot springs or else his body would get stiff. Agreeing with Haku's sense of logic, Naruto headed to the hot springs to relax with Haku in tow, and told her that he would see her after their soaking. While Haku went to the female side, Naruto went to the male side, and while it was tempting to be with Haku there was also a chance that other females were on that side.
Even with his skills, Naruto didn't want to be caught, and castrated by a horde of angry women just for being affectionate to one of his lovers.
Walking further in, the young Namikaze heard giggling of a perverse nature, and Naruto narrowed his eyes at the source of it all. Right next to the divider wall was a man peeping through a small hole while writing things down in a black notebook and giggling every few seconds.
Sneaking up behind the man, Naruto arched his foot back, and with one simple kick to the man's rear sent him flying through the wall to the other side. Moments later there was screaming heard of many females yelling "pervert" and the sounds of what seemed to be club like instrument hitting flesh with a male screaming for them to stop. Soon the large group of women punted the man back to the male side where he hit a tree and fell down a bleeding lump of was once a man.
"You want me to get you out of here or do you want me to leave so they can finish you off?" said Naruto seeing the shadows of the women on the other side approaching.
"Getting me out of here please," said the man weakly with Naruto grabbing his hair and dragging him away to the male locker room before getting dressed himself.
"What's your name pervert?" said Naruto seeing the man get up and slumping against the wall to properly take away the pain his body felt right now.
"I am the infamous, greatly feared, and above all respected Shinobi as well as Toad Sage Jiraiya of the legendary three Sannin," said Jiraiya, who would have done his dance had his body not hurt right now, and had a few broken bones in the process.
"Not to mention you peep on women and are a pervert that gets beat up by said women when you get caught," said Naruto in a matter-of-fact tone that made Jiraiya face plant into the ground.
"I'm not a pervert gaki. I'm...A SUPER PERVERT!" said Jiraiya while Naruto sighed before disappearing and a horde of women appeared with painful looking weapons in their hands.
"Did you hear? He said he was a super pervert! GET HIM!" said the leader of the women before they all began beating up the helpless pervert and left the beaten man soon after with Naruto returning to see the bloodied man glare at him.
"Don't give me that look; you brought that on yourself by saying that you were a super pervert loudly for everyone to hear Ero-Sennin. Also I believe you have some explaining to do in not being in Konoha to take care of me like you should have...Godfather!" said Naruto remembering his Father's diary telling of how Jiraiya was supposed to look after him and be his Godfather.
"Oh, you know about that huh?" said Jiraiya wishing he was unconscious right like all the other times when women beat him up.
"Yep! Now you either tell me why you didn't take care of me like you should have or I'm going to tie you up while you're in your underwear, right in the middle of town square, write 'Super Pervert' on your back, and then charge all the women a small fee to beat the crap out of you for peeping on them in the hot springs since you first started," said Naruto glaring at the now frightened man, who had peeped on a lot of women, and the last thing he needed was to be mauled in such a way by the female populous.
"All right fine! Damn kid. Look I wanted to take you with me, I really did since you were my student's son, but the Councils said I couldn't saying that if I did, then Iwa would've known, and send assassins after you. They told me I shouldn't have any direct contact with you for several years while placing a separation order on me from being near you and told me to go hunting for Orochimaru or other threats to Konoha," said Jiraiya telling the boy what he knew and saw the boy scowl at this since the Hokage wouldn't let such an order fly.
"What did Sarutobi do to stop it?" said Naruto seeing the man slowly get up from the ground and arch his back a little until a few popping noises were heard.
"He didn't know until it was signed off after I spoke with them in a secret meeting and by the time he made an attempt to stop the order, it was too late. I originally accused them of disobeying the Yondaime's dying wish and they just looked like they didn't have care in the slightest. They knew with me gone that you were open game for the villagers and the Shinobi to use as target practice when no one was watching you that cared. Its not all that surprising really since the Yondaime was going to do the old 'changing of the guard', as he felt the old one was too traditional for what he had envisioned, and the majority still clung to the old harsh ways of life that the Shodaime had to deal with during the Leaf's founding," said Jiraiya seeing the boy nod his head at this since old fools don't know when to quit when it comes to leaving their position of power.
"I understand, but you still need to make it up to me, and I expect you to or else," said Naruto seeing the man look at him with caution since the kid could clearly walk the walk when it came to threats.
"What do you want to know kid?" said Jiraiya seeing the boy's eyes that were hungry for knowledge and how it was going to be used to hurt a certain someone not from the Leaf.
"I've been learning quite a lot from my biological Father's personal library so learning Jutsus won't really be a problem, but I need help with sealing since I need a Seal Master to help me determine if anything I do is accurate. Also I know my Father summoned the Toads so I want to sign that too," said Naruto seeing Jiraiya raise an eyebrow at that since the terms of Naruto receiving his inheritance early was for someone outside of Konoha to know about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of the boy and not hate him.
A stipulation that the Councils thought would prevent the boy from growing stronger since no one would in their right minds take the boy in once they knew.
"Say kid, who took you in when you were younger?" said Jiraiya wanting to know the whole story behind Naruto's lucky break.
Naruto then began to explain everything from when Sesshomaru arrived, to the Demon Lord adopting him, training him, and everything else leading up to the present with the more private moments edited out. He even told Jiraiya about Gaara and what the psycho did to Hinata during the Preliminaries. At first, Jiraiya joked to the kid on whether the Hyuuga was his girlfriend, and when Naruto proudly stated she was the Super Pervert nearly had a heart attack.
"Wait a second! You have two girlfriends," said Jiraiya his jaw dropping wondering how this kid got so lucky while the great Toad Sannin got nothing.
"Two girlfriends while possibly going on three if not four later on. I have to ask the one of the potential two girls out later after the exams and the other maybe in league in with the invasion force that threatens to invade Konoha from Suna," said Naruto seeing Jiraiya frown at that since he had become aware of some activity between Sound and Suna, as it was one of the reasons he came back to Konoha in the first place, and the other was to do some research before he left.
"I see. All right I'll talk to the old monkey to see if I can help in the plans though I think we should have some backups too since I suspect there is a high level spy in Konoha that is helping Orochimaru. Before I do that however, I first want to say that I'm sorry about your Mom being like that with you since she obviously lied to me when she said that she would take care of you no doubt to keep me further away from the Leaf. To make up for my negligence on my part I'll start training you in what you don't know from your old man's library, and make you get even stronger so when you face that Gaara guy you can crush him. Come on kid let's go some place secluded where prying eyes won't bother us," said Jiraiya looking up to see Kakashi on a tree glaring at Naruto before making his way down to stop the two.
"Naruto, I need to talk to you about what happened in the Forest of Death," said Kakashi with his voice firm meaning he meant business.
"Go read the mission report like everyone else Hatake. I have nothing to say to you and I'm sure as hell not going to teach you how to make a sword like Trickster just so the 'last Uchiha' can make one. His team was given the chance to make it on their own after my team gave them what they needed to pass, but they failed to get the job done, and before you say that I abandoned them I think you should ask yourself if Sasuke didn't have it coming. Its clear Sasuke-teme would have just abandoned his team just to pass himself while his teammates just died in that Kami forsaken place. Your reputation in the past is that you've always preached of teamwork, but from what I've seen of your team, is that they have none of it, and I suspect the only reason that your team even passed was because the Councils ordered you too even though they have no authority to even do that in the first place. Right?" said Naruto seeing the Jounin look at him in shock at how he knew how he was going to lead this little "conversation" to making another sword like Trickster to give to the Uchiha.
"Minato would be ashamed of you Kakashi, as I'm sure he would of Kushina, and while I'm not going to even say I'm a saint in this either because I'm not I will say there is a distinct difference between us. That difference is I'm going to make it up to Naruto right now by training for the finals," said Jiraiya before he took Naruto by the shoulder and they went "poof" leaving Kakashi standing there with his fists clenched.
(Leaf Hotel-Next Morning)
Temari was more worried then she had ever been in her life and considering she had a psychotic brother with a demon sealed inside of him that was saying something. The root of her fears was the fact that Gaara has possibly done something that even she found to be inexcusable considering who her brother had pissed off.
Like everyone else during the remaining Preliminary fights, Temari had felt the powerful spike of chakra, she had heard Naruto's screaming out of Gaara's name, and she had seen the look of fear that for the briefest of seconds that flashed on her little brother's face. It was the first time he showed fear since he was six and then it was when everyone tried to kill him at the behest of their stupid Father that was the Kazekage. In her mind, Temari had visions of her little brother being mauled by the blonde Namikaze without mercy, his eyes a crimson red covered in a wild hellfire, and his bloodlust was beyond human.
It was a nightmare that Temari knew she couldn't let happen.
She had requested to speak to the Hokage in private, as she had things she wished to tell him about the invasion, and use such knowledge to be granted some form of protection for her brothers until this blew over. She knew that Kabuto guy gave certain specifics before he got free, but even he didn't know all the details, and she felt it was best if she did that just to be sure that the old man had the full picture.
'I need to do this. I have to do this! Not just for Gaara, but for Naruto-kun as well. I know he loves that Hyuuga girl and hell I actually like her too considering what we did in the Forest of Death,' thought Temari blushing at the memory of what happened in that part of the exam.
Still, all of that aside, the Hyuuga Heiress has some kind of light in her that Temari felt was wrong for Gaara to hurt, and when her brother did she knew that there would be hell to pay.
Walking out of the Leaf Hotel, Temari made her way to the Hokage Tower, and was fully aware of the ANBU watching her room along with her on the way to her destination.
(Namikaze Estate-At that Moment)
Naruto was staring out at Konoha from his balcony in his robes seeing the sun and was in deep thought at the events that occurred yesterday with training from Toad Sage Jiraiya of the Sannin. The summoning went easy enough since Naruto had no problem molding the chakra needed to summon one of the larger toads after signing the contract. It seemed that when Naruto broke the Five Prong Seal it had caused his chakra coils to expand out several times what they would be until he was much older and while that worried Jiraiya for a bit, it had turned out to be a blessing. With the thickness of the coils increased from the expansion, the demonic chakra from the fox could run through them easier meaning the Kyuubi's chakra could be used more with less fatigue when it receded back into Naruto's body.
Since Naruto had done so well on summoning Toads on his first try, Jiraiya had started Naruto on sealing soon after, and called it a day when the sun started to set.
A moan from the bed behind him in his room focused his thoughts away from yesterday and more on today with his other girlfriend Haku lying tired, naked, and satisfied from her night of love making with him to relieve the stress that had been building up in his body. Naruto smirked back at how he took Haku in the heat of their passion after she walked into his room at night in her robes, with nothing underneath the icy blue fabric that hugged her figure, and when she removed it...well let's just say she wasn't going to walk straight for a few days.
Turning his thoughts away from Haku for a second, Naruto thought about Hinata sitting in the Hospital, and how he wished he could be there everyday to talk with her. His only hope of her fully recovering was getting that Slug Sannin back into the Leaf to fix up what the other doctors couldn't.
'Dad, come home soon with Kurenai-sensei. We need that Sannin here fast and we need her now!' thought Naruto hating this feeling of helplessness that ran up and down his spine like a freight elevator.
(Lazarus City-Gold Streak Casino)
The Gold Streak Casino was just as the name itself suggested with it being big, fancy, and had enough money exchanging hands in it that it should have been illegal in its entirety like copyright infringement. Of course, it would be illegal if it wasn't so damn profitable to the Daimyo in the land it had taken up shop on. In, addition to this place being a lavishing casino for big spenders, it was also a hotel since people wished to stay close to the casino floor when the next day came around, and it was for that reason that a certain Demon Lord Sesshomaru with his mate Yuhi Kurenai had taken up residents in the Penthouse Suite.
When Sesshomaru first entered the building, his ears hurt instantly at the clanking, the sound of metal coins hitting each other, and the sounds of people talking filling up the room. Cutting back on his senses, the Demon Lord walked with Kurenai to the front desk receptionist, who upon seeing Sesshomaru blushed a deep shade of red before passing out, and getting the two some unwanted attention...depending on ones point of view.
Many young women upon looking in their direction instantly blushed at the sight of this handsome individual, who looked to be a Feudal Lord, or someone close to a Feudal Lord entering the casino. Instantly, they were waited on hand and foot by the Manager of the filthy rich casino, who gave them the Penthouse Suite for free believing that such royalty would spread the word of the casino's hospitality, and would further increase the already popular places popularity.
"This place is packed. Do you really think Tsunade-sama will be among the gambling crowd Sesshomaru-kun?" said Kurenai seeing crowd below through the sound proof window that showed the people below them walking, spending, and laughing when they weren't crying over money.
"If Tsunade doesn't, then she clearly got over her gambling addiction, and has decided to renounce wagering money altogether. Though according to the file I read, it seems to be most unlikely at this point, and I trust my instincts when it comes to finding people," said Sesshomaru, as he had not been wrong yet, and didn't plan on being wrong anytime soon.
"How do you intend to find her?" said Kurenai knowing that with so many people in the casino smelling her much less seeing Tsunade would be difficult since the woman was quite notorious for leaving without a trace.
"Simple. We look for the one with the worst luck," said Sesshomaru knowing that if this woman was as bad a gambler as the file said, then they just needed to be patient enough for the woman to lose her temper, and make a scene before she vanished from the scene with less money in her pocket.
Now, it was time to play the waiting game.
(A/N: YAY! I updated! How was it? I had a very difficult doing the Prelims so if anyone is disappointed with them I am sorry. It was so hard writing them my head felt like it was going to go numb. Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Until next time...PEACE!!)