So hey guys, sorry for the massive wait, between everything going on in my life and my beta's ME3 (Mass Effect 3) addiction (he told me to put that in there I SWEAR! Seriously though I have an awesome beta), and my other story (which you should go read if you haven't :P) it's been almost two months :(.
Don't worry, I haven't stopped writing, and there is plenty of potential for this to go for many many more chapters with the ideas I have bouncing around in my head. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I'll answer some Review questions at the end :)
Hopefully with university going back I'll get back into the habit of writing more often, considering I have to spend at least two hours on the train every day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
The Champion of Clan Namikaze
Chapter 16: Downward Spiral
(Earlier that night)
"Whoever is there, do not try my patience, I am on a mission. Stand in my way and I will tear you asunder!" The pale, white haired shinobi in the purple robe called out as he came to a stop in the middle of the wide-open space, "I do not have time to play games, I must fulfill my destiny,"
Tsunade and Hiashi stepped out from their cover and into the field. They'd lost the element of surprise. Now they'd just have to overpower this ninja of the sound. That shouldn't be too hard right? Not with the head of the Hyuuga clan and one of the Sannin.
"What mission might that be?" Tsunade called out, full well knowing what the reply would be. Hiashi just stood next to her, stern and tense, ready to react to any action made by either Tsunade or the mystery nin Kimimaro.
"I've warned you once, I shall not warn you again. The retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke must not be delayed. Orochimaru-sama's plans depend on it!" Kimimaro shouted before charging in a burst of blinding speed.
The woman was most likely the weakest link of the two and therefore his target. He could destroy her and then move onto the Hyuuga. The eyes were the ultimate giveaway, and while he could adjust his skeletal structure to deflect and redirect Jyuuken strikes he still posed a threat.
He covered the distance to the Kunoichi in a matter of moments, rearing back his fist and launching a bone-rattling blow. She made not attempt to block the strike at her head. Amateur. His speed was incredible though, so he could forgive her for not reacting to her impending death.
At the very last second Kimimaro noticed the slightest twitch of her lips.
Tsunade wasn't known for her poker face; if she could manage a half decent one she wouldn't be known as the legendary sucker.
Something was wrong. This was too easy; a fact Kimimaro realized almost too late.
Kimimaro's fist passed through the afterimage of the kunoichi's head as she dropped low under his strike and stepped forward to land a skeleton shattering punch directly on his chest.
The Last Kaguya experienced a feeling of immense shock as he flew back across of the field, launched off the fist of his opponent. He only knew of one other person that could move like that. The person he was completing this mission for. It would seem that in his haste to fulfill his master's will he'd sorely misjudged his opponents.
He could count himself lucky that he'd noticed something was wrong and had been able to adjust his skeletal density accordingly; that punch would have otherwise killed him.
Tsunade herself was displaying surprise. She never felt the expected crush of ribs or the implosion of his chest. In fact, it felt like she'd just punched the hardest steel in existence. What was this ninja?
It had been a while since Hiashi had seen Tsunade in action. Her speed and ferocity was something to marvel. The sheer power of her attack was enough that he felt the movement of the air from the impact where he was standing. The Jyuuken might have been Konoha's deadliest and most graceful form of taijutsu, but he never wanted to be on the receiving end of a hit like that.
What surprised him even more was that the shinobi that took the hit was casually standing up, ready to face them down again.
"It looks like I underestimated you in my desire to fulfill my destiny," The pale ninja said as he stood, looking no worse for wear with the exception of his robe being slightly tattered from his tumble.
"And it seems I should have expected a simple strike like that to not have much effect," Tsunade said calmly. She'd hoped that she could end this quickly. It wasn't everyday that you underestimated an opponent like her and lived to tell the tale.
The Kaguya sized up his opponent more carefully this time, noticing the rather strange jewel on her forward head while taking note of the blonde hair, huge bust and crystal necklace. No wonder he'd not been able to hit her.
"So Tsunade of the Sannin. I didn't realize you were still affiliated with Konoha?"
"No, not truly, but you and your village took the wrong kid. I'm rather fond of the black haired pervert so if you want him be prepared for the fight of your life."
Can I really take Tsunade of the Sannin and a high-ranking Hyuuga? I have to. There is no option. I have to destroy them or at least give the rest of them time to escape with Sasuke.
"I will just have to keep you busy then. And I have just the way," Kimimaro said, trying to hide his now shaky confidence as seals started to cover his body. The rush of power he experienced was enough to cause him to grin. He still had this. They were nothing next to the power of Orochimaru.
"I'm afraid stalling us won't achieve anything. Your abduction team won't stand a chance against the caliber of shinobi they are facing. Even if they can all do that little power up trick." Even Tsunade could feel the power radiating off the pale shinobi now covered in lines of black.
What if they sent jounin? If they sent Tsunade and this Hyuuga the others might be in trouble. The mission objective could be in trouble.
"ENOUGH TALKING THEN!" Kimimaro burst forward with even more speed than before.
This time it was Hiashi's turn to act.
Slipping in front of the albino shinobi's target he lashed out with a strike that hit nothing but air. Only that was the point.
The chakra mass he projected from his palm using the Heavenly Vaccum Palm technique was enough to kill almost anyone, liquefying their organs and sending them tumbling away.
None of that happened. All the attack managed to achieve was stopping Kimimaro in his tracks. He didn't double over in pain nor did he tumble away from the force of the attack.
But the stoppage gave Tsunade time to act, the Sannin having blurred forward from behind Hiashi alongside the chakra projection.
Within moments of the attack stopping Kimimaro in his tracks Tsunade lashed out with a powerful sweep that knocked the feet out from under him before following through with a roundhouse that sent him flying. She didn't feel any bones cracking and when he stood again, looking only slightly worse for wear, both Hiashi and Tsunade were dumbstruck.
"Just what are you!?" the quick to anger Sannin exclaimed. He took an almost point blank vacuum palm followed by a sweep that would have fractured the bones in his legs and a roundhouse that would have snapped every bone in his ribcage. And the only signs he had taken any hits were that his clothes were tattered and his breathing was slightly heavier.
Hiashi though, using his Byukugan, had figured it out by now.
"Tsunade, he's a Kaguya, it's the only explanation. His chakra keeps flaring at any point he would take damage, and his skeletal structure is morphing whenever it happens."
The old woman's eyes went wide. Weren't they all dead? How did Orochimaru even get a Kaguya to work for him, let alone worship him like this one did?
This changed everything.
"I guess you worked out my little secret," Kimimaro said with a smile, his breathing evening out a little as he assessed the situation, they were now in more or less a triangular formation, each of them an equal distance from the other, "and it would appear you can't do any damage to me but I can't get close enough to do any damage to you, only that's about to change."
Before Tsunade or Hiashi could make a move to close the distance between themselves and the Last Kaguya he was transforming.
His skin changed colour and the bones in his face changed, becoming sharper. Black markings appeard around his eyes and six large spikes erupted from his back. A row of spikes appeared down his spine where each of his vertebrae were, and a tail grew from his tail bone.
Hiashi's eyes widened.
"His chakra, it's incredible. Tsunade, we might need to pull out all the stops on this one. He's a Kaguya, and whatever that transformation did it gave him incredible power, the source of it being a seal."
"That blasted cursed seal Orochimaru plants on his toys no doubt," Tsunade really had a bone to pick with Orochimaru. The man was dead to her; she'd make sure herself that he was put in the ground.
That was neither here nor there though, she focused back on the fight as their opponent drew a long blade from behind his head, it grew from his spine and it looked like it was made from bone.
It had to be. He hadn't been wearing it before.
Damn. Making a blade from your own bones.
"Now that's creepy," Hiashi muttered before the Kaguya blurred out of sight, his speed still impressive but no longer on par with his earlier attempts. That wasn't reassuring though, this new form probably hid a variety of nasty surprises.
His first attack was a direct strike at the legendary Sannin, the bone blade lancing out at her throat.
He had the range to fight them now, and if they touched his weapon of choice they'd have serious trouble.
Tsunade saw the attack coming and moved to push the blade aside with a glove of chakra, careful not to touch the blade.
Hiashi blurred out of sight as he closed the distance to the encounter, his Byakugan revealing the true threat. Kimimaro was charging an abnormally large amount of chakra in his left arm, the arm that wasn't holding the blade.
Tsunade blocked the blade, deflecting it and moving forward to strike the Kaguya, only for the pale boy to bring his left arm up in a palm thrust. A spear of bone erupted from his hand, lancing out toward the kunoichi, already committed to her attack.
A blast of chakra flew past them, coming from the direction of Hiashi, having launched it in an attempt stop the attack from impaling Tsunade. It worked.
The chakra attack had been well placed enough that it struck the side of Kimimaro's arm, pushing it across his body, the lance of bone only just grazing Tsunade as she bore down on him.
Kimimaro used this unexpected gain in momentum to swing all the way around, his tail lashing out at the legs of attacking kunoichi.
Hiashi saw his opportunity to attack and moved forward, slipping into a signature Hyuuga stance.
"You're within my field of divination,"
Kimimaro was ready.
Tsunade jumped, but the defensive maneuver was enough to slow her down for a fraction of a second, long enough for Kimimaro to continue his spin, bringing his right hand, and his blade along with it, around.
Hiashi had been so close to performing the fight ending technique that he grimaced when he was forced to drop below the blade, hairs falling in front of his face. He'd come incredibly close to losing his head.
Tsunade stepped forward, the threat of the tail gone, and only the threat of the boy's sword arm to deal with as he continued to turn back to her. She stepped forward, planting a foot in the back of his right knee, forcing him to the ground and grabbing his right arm with her right hand, stopping it's advance toward her.
She grinned as she pulled her fist back, ready to strike out at their troublesome opponent. You didn't survive a focused point blank hit to the head; not from Tsunade Senju, the strongest woman in the world.
"TSUNADE! NO! LET GO!" Hiashi screamed as he launched himself toward Kimimaro.
Quickly snapped from thoughts of victory she did just as her comrade commanded. Not a second too late as huge lances of bone erupted from the prior points of contact in the direction of the Sannin. Upon hitting nothing they began to retreat back into the Kaguya, before he was launched away with a two footed kick to the chest from Hiashi. The Hyuuga quickly put an arm down to prevent himself from crashing to the ground before getting his feet back under him and standing up.
"Thanks Hiashi, those eyes of yours are incredibly useful. And what was that? I've never seen a master of the gentle fist use such a blunt attack before,"
"Haha, that's just because we never normally have to use anything but the gentle fist," Tsunade looked at him curiously, "What? You think we just twiddle our thumbs once we master the Jyuuken?"
"Fair point,"
"It doesn't matter now, our friend is getting back up, and it looks like we have visitors," Hiashi said, nodding in the direction of the forest, "The genin aren't far out, Neji is missing, hopefully that means he was sent back to the village to report,"
Tsunade smiled; more ammo for her to salt the wound.
"Did you hear that?" she called out to the foreign nin, "Your comrades are defeated! Sasuke has been saved. Gosh, won't Orochimaru just be so disappointed to hear that?" She added smarmily. She knew how to push buttons.
"STOP! YOU LIE!" Kimimaro screamed, easily upset in his advanced form, "I WILL COMPLETE MY MISSION! I WILL GET SASUKE TO OROCHIMARU-SAMA!"
Seeing four Konoha genin appear on the edge of the clearing, observing the spectacle in front of him was enough to send him over the edge. The normally calm and reserved ninja, twisted by the power of the cursed seal and enraged that he couldn't complete his mission lost all form of sanity.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
"Bring it on," Tsunade said with a grin, a grin that lasted until the Kaguya blurred toward them faster than before, "Shit."
Tsunade and Hiashi were now on the defensive as The Last Kaguya launched everything he had at them. Any time they came close to being able to launch a strike at any part of his body, razor sharp bones would emerge from his skeleton, forcing them to retreat.
Between his tail and his sword he had a range advantage and with his ferocity he was easily pushing them back. They couldn't get close and every chakra attack that Hiashi was launching did nothing to perturb the raging madman from his assault.
"ALRIGHT ENOUGH!" Tsunade screamed after he'd pushed them back a fair distance. While his attacks were threatening they could be dealt with. Any lesser shinobi might have slipped up, but Hiashi and Tsunade weren't anything but the best, so the vicious assault that Kimimaro was dishing out, while deadly, was more annoying. She'd had enough and she saw her opportunity.
The Sannin lashed out as Kimimaro took another step toward her. Only she lashed out at the ground.
Earth erupted around them, plates of rock lifting up from the field as the shockwave rocketed out from the point of impact; the earth rippling.
Hiashi had seen it coming and was prepared to act.
Kimimaro, in his rage, wasn't so lucky.
A plate of rock launched up beneath him, causing him to lose his footing.
"NOW HIASHI!"
Hiashi simply nodded as he dropped low in front of the sound ninja who was trying to regain his balance in the second after the attack.
A double palmed chakra strike lashed out with enough force to project the nin higher into the air.
A second pushed him further into the air.
The assault didn't stop, Hiashi never allowing him to recover; each attack forcing The Last Kaguya higher and higher, tumbling through the sky above the Hyuuga, the clan head juggling the sound nin almost.
Tsunade went through a series of hand seals before slamming the ground, causing a giant plume of smoke to erupt around her before reappearing on the top of a giant slug.
"Thanks for the lift Katsuyu!" she said with a grimace as she jumped from her summon's head, dismissing the giant slug at the same time. It was enough to gain more height than the tumbling Kimimaro.
She was above him now. And that was all she needed. She focused as much chakra as she could manage into her right fist as she bore down on the shinobi rising toward her.
"EAT SHIT!"
Her fist hit him square in the face and she felt each and every bone in his head fracture. The Last Kaguya rocketed off her hand at an angle, sending him toward a part of the field a distance away from them.
It was all Kimimaro could manage just to prevent his head from popping under the force of the attack. His last assault had taken a lot of his chakra and he didn't have the time or energy to produce bone in a counterattack. He just had to make sure whatever attack Tsunade had in store for him he could survive.
And so while he had a broken nose, a fractured skull and most of the bones in his face were cracked, he was still alive as he was sent plummeting toward the ground, his body impacting with the earth in a plume of dust. The impact was a little softer thanks to Tsunade's previous attack, the strike loosening the soil. It helped, but it didn't stop the impact fracturing more of his skeleton.
Yet consciousness remained.
The Last Kaguya only wished as he lay in a crater in a field that his frail body wasn't holding him back. He would have been able to deal with these pests otherwise.
But, he'd survived her strike, and he'd survived the fall. He would survive. He was a Kaguya and he was Orochimaru's servant. He would survive, and he would complete his mission.
If he couldn't do that he'd take these heathens with him!
Yes, he'd take these shinobi with him for delaying the will of Orochimaru-sama!
The Last Kaguya lay face down on the ground in his small crater, coughing blood as Tsunade landed deftly, using one of the angled plates of debris as a ramp, slowing her descent.
As this was happening four young Konoha nin sat with their mouths agape at the sight of the combo attack they'd just witnessed.
"Wow, I mean I knew Baa-chan was strong but that was freaking awesome! It's so awesome she lives with us, dattebayo!" Naruto didn't even care that she was grouchy most of the time. She was a bona fide badass in his eyes now and that would never change.
"Tell me about it, that had to be one of the coolest attacks I've ever seen," Sasuke added, his Sharingan spinning. He'd had it active to keep up with movements of the high level ninja in the field before them and now he'd never forget that combo.
"What are you talking about teme? You saw that move I pulled out on Gaara, that was fucking awesome, how was that cooler?" Naruto shouted indignantly. His move was awesome too, why didn't he get recognition?
"Because… You don't have jugs like that dobe," Sasuke said, still a little dazed from the sight of seeing Tsunade fight. He wouldn't forget that jiggling any time soon.
Naruto pouted, having been outdone by breasts, and Sakura seethed, her face turning a solid red as she turned a death stare towards her 'kind of boyfriend'.
They hung out a lot now and they were friendly towards each other, she'd even gotten away with kissing him just before, something she'd been trying to build the courage to do whenever they were alone. But even then she still couldn't work out why he didn't start at least behaving like her boyfriend. He did like her didn't he?
He kissed me back didn't he?
Maybe she was trying too hard.
Karin could only laugh. She didn't envy the pink haired girl. She was chasing after a guy that could save within his mind the visage of any woman he would ever see. And it seemed like he had a taste for over sized fruit. She had to say that Sasuke was a good guy, but from what she'd seen of him he was also very curious about all things physical. It was a natural assumption, considering his Icha Icha addiction, and she didn't see why he would have any reason to be loyal to any one girl.
While the bickering between the teens went unnoticed Hiashi and the Sannin made their way slowly toward the crater the elite sound ninja had made when his body so resolutely hit the earth.
"Do you want to give up yet?" Tsunade said. She pitied the boy lying in the dirt below them, beaten and broken. Orochimaru had used him and he'd paid the price.
"I… Will… Never… Submit!" Kimimaro said, not looking towards the two shinobi above him, wasn't about to surrender; not to these Konoha scum.
"You don't really have a choice," Hiashi said calmly, now that the fight had died down a little, "You are in no condition to fight back,"
"Who…" Kimimaro started before being interrupted by a bout of coughing that brought up a lot of blood, splattering the ground beneath his head as he struggled to get to his hands and knees, "said anything about a fight?"
At that moment he turned to look up at Tsunade, a look in his eyes that showed he'd lost the last semblance of sanity that he ever had. Tsunade really did feel sorry for him.
A look of alarm crossed Hiashi's face as he stood watching the scene. Something was wrong; chakra was spreading out across the field, waiting to be spring from the dirt. He could feel it, but that could only mean that Kimimaro still had enough fight left to pose a final threat.
This was the kind of attack that you didn't survive executing. Once this was over Kimimaro would be dead, that kind of chakra drain was enormous.
But if it were that kind of attack then he and Tsunade would most likely be dead when it came around.
He'd be damned if he was going down to some kamikaze attack; he knew they didn't have much time.
Quick as a flash Hiashi was standing over the broken shinobi.
A quick final thrust and the little life Kimimaro had left was gone, his brains liquefied by the high powered close range Jyuuken strike that he was clearly in no condition to block.
Tsunade could only look at the Hyuuga in shock, "What the fuck was that?" Hiashi had just brutally killed someone who wasn't a threat any longer, "What was he going to do? Look at us funny until we died?" As crazy as Kimimaro was he'd been manipulated by Orochimaru, and Tsunade was never one for needless violence; oh who was she kidding, but killing someone like that was where she drew the line.
"He was actually about to kill us with an attack. I felt his chakra spreading out into the ground, have a look," Hiashi said, motioning toward the field around them.
Looking at the dirt Tsunade could see tiny tips of bone just beginning to emerge from the soil. They were everywhere.
"Well shit, sorry," she said sheepishly when she realized that she'd just been saved, "that could have been nasty,"
"Indeed, hence why I decided to kill him now, and save ourselves, than to let him kill us all, himself included," Hiashi said matter of factly. He knew Tsunade was averse to killing, but it was necessary. He wasn't going to lose sleep over it.
Tsunade just nodded in assent. It was necessary. She had been hoping they could save him, and get some information, but that was a long shot even before Kimimaro had looked at her. The look he gave her in his final moments was enough for her to realize that he would never turn on Orochimaru.
With the threat finally gone she and Hiashi made their way toward the trees. They needed to find out what the situation was. What had happened to Neji.
It wasn't long before the elder shinobi were upon the four kids, their bickering now over; even if Sakura was still casting glares at Sasuke, and Naruto was pouting.
"Okay brat, tell us what happened," Tsunade said as they came to a stop.
"Yes, what happened to Neji?" Hiashi was rather concerned for his nephew, he was a prodigy within the clan, and now that he was finally back on track it would be a tragedy if he'd fallen in combat.
Naruto, taking charge within the group, even though Sakura outranked him, was the first to speak up.
"He's okay, lost two fingers, and he's a bit beaten up, but Karin looked him over and he should live. I dropped him back to the hospital as soon as we all met back up again. The rest of us had a little trouble with our fights when they started to transform, but it wasn't anything we all couldn't handle. We're just glad we didn't have to fight that guy," the other kids nodded before Naruto added, "even if I could have taken him," to which every person present rolled their eyes.
"Shut-up dumbass, as if you could, he would have destroyed you!" Sakura spoke up after they'd all recovered from their nightly dose of Naruto.
Karin interjected before the blonde could pipe up at Sakura's jab, "You're forgetting something Naruto," she said, "Tayuya got away. But that's not what's important," Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "what's important is that I tagged her with the Hiraishin, meaning wherever she goes -,"
"We can follow," Tsunade said, a glimmer in her eyes. This might just be the only shot they get at Orochimaru for a long time.
"No," this time it was Hiashi's turn to speak up, "as much as I would love to go and teach that snake a lesson for the kidnapping of my daughter it's not our best move. We have four children," cue annoyed pouts, "and while we have two experienced shinobi in you and myself we'd be going in blind. Who knows what Orochimaru has holed up with him?"
"Yeah, and he'd have Kabuto. From what Karin said that guy is just plain nasty," Sakura said, not too keen to go hunting for danger even if she did want to get back at Orochimaru for kidnapping Sasuke. They had Sasuke now though; they could return to the village and decide what to do from there.
Karin nodded in assent.
"Fine," Tsunade growled. As angry as she was, she knew they couldn't go in guns blazing without any kind of intel, and then she had a thought, "Actually, Naruto."
"Yeah baa-chan?" the blonde said, frankly he was content to do either. He was just happy he had his best friend back.
"What happens when you focus on a Hiraishin marker? What intel can you get from it?"
"Ummm, not much, I just get a general feeling of what is directly around the marker, so I don't teleport into an object or something. I can't really tell much. If people are close enough to it I can make out gender and looks, but most of it's a blur and just a spatial feeling of the area."
"Damn, so we can't use the marker to gather intel," Tsunade was annoyed, what she thought was a golden ticket to Orochimaru was slowly dwindling to nothing.
"You guys are forgetting something," Sasuke said, standing up straight as he pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on and made his way closer to the group, putting away his Icha Icha. He was just glad his book hadn't been damaged in the fight.
"Yeah?" Sakura was curious as to what insight her, her, well she didn't know what to call him anymore, could offer.
"Naruto, do you hide the markers you've been leaving around the country for fast travel?"
"Yeah, what but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Why do you hide them?"
"So they can't be moved or stolen. People getting their hands on the seal isn't exactly a good idea."
"Exactly," Hiashi spoke up, getting the point Sasuke was trying to make, "I'm glad you're the one tutoring my daughter, you do have a keen intellect after all,"
"What? I don't get it?" Sakura said, scratching her head.
"Naruto hides his markers so people can't find a weakness in the seal, because while highly improbable it is still possible. We now have an enemy shinobi with a seal, even if she doesn't know that, heading towards one of the greatest shinobi threats to the village of Konoha. See the problem?" Sasuke said as if it were obvious.
"Shit," Naruto said, "I guess we can't just let her leave then huh?" having the ability to teleport straight into Orochimaru's lair would have been pretty handy. Sasuke made a good point though.
"That and we don't know when she'll be in the base. We don't know if we'll be walking into a trap. We don't know anything," this time it was Karin's turn to speak, "We could be teleporting straight into a trap if Orochimaru figures it out and we don't teleport in as soon as Tayuya gets back to him. Which we have no way of knowing."
"Grrrr," As much as it made Tsunade angry she knew what Naruto had to do, "Fine, go get her."
xXx
She had to get back to Orochimaru. She had to escape and report. Hopefully he wouldn't kill her.
She was still loyal and she could still fight, even if she'd lost her Doki. Orochimaru would appreciate her coming back right?
Her thoughts of Orochimaru were interrupted by a sickening sensation in the pit of her stomach as she was ripped off her feet and pulled into darkness.
When she finally got her bearings again she was surrounded by six people she really hadn't wanted to see again.
In a matter of seconds the trees around them were filled with profanity.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON! NOT YOU FUCKERS AGAIN!"
She was completely surrounded and there was no way for she was getting away. Tayuya slipped into a defensive stance, hoping they wouldn't kill her.
"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT YOU PIECE OF SHIT?" she said when she realized that Naruto was the one that had been touching her when she reappeared.
"Magic," he said with a gleeful smile before erupting in laughter, "Oh Kami, this is funnier than the first time I used it on Ten Ten."
Karin's ears pricked up at the mention of another girl their age that Naruto had 'used' the Hiraishin. He probably meant nothing by it. But she'd have to investigate.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU YOU FUCKING BASTARD TRASH!"
"Hiashi," Tsunade said with a pained look on her face.
In the blink of an eye he was behind the last remaining member of the elite sound five and had struck out, rendering her unconscious.
"Oh thank Kami, I was about to kill her. Bitch needs to learn volume control," Tsunade sighed in relief.
Hiashi simply nodded while Karin laughed. She was so glad that she was no longer a spy for Orochimaru. Life had really turned around for the young girl.
"Anyway, now that our ticket to Orochimaru is more or less gone, lets round up these bodies and get the hell out of here." Tsunade said more tiredly than before. Maybe the fight with Kimimaro was catching up to her, "I need a bath,"
xXx
In the village hidden in the clouds Jiraiya shuddered in delight and he couldn't quite muster a reason. Sure, one damn fine Kunoichi had escorted him to the Raikage's office, but that didn't warrant the shuddering, and touching his face, the small nose bleed.
He just shrugged it off as a mystery of the universe. He'd had stranger things happen.
xXx
The retrieval team plus Sasuke collected Kimimaro, so that the secrets of his Kekkai Genkai couldn't be discovered by anyone who just happened by his body.
After that they made their way toward the sites of the other fights only to find nothing.
Doing a quick search of the area with her Minds Eye Karin rapidly expanded her search radius, to just catch a number of shinobi at the edges of her range. They were moving back in the direction of Konoha and were the only people nearby.
Meaning they were most likely responsible for the bagging and tagging of the corpses.
Corpse theft. Sometimes she just hated being a shinobi.
"We had visitors," Karin explained to the Konoha ninja around her, "They must have come and taken the bodies while we were over watching the Kimimaro fight. I didn't notice because I don't always have my Minds Eye Technique at full power; it can get draining over time."
"That's okay, where are they headed? Maybe we can catch them?" Tsunade asked, they might need those bodies to unlock the secrets of the cursed seal. If they could then maybe they could relieve Anko and Sasuke of their burdens.
"Funnily enough they're headed back in the direction of Konoha, maybe the Hokage sent reinforcements?" Karin added.
"No, I don't think so," Hiashi added to the conversation, "I think I might know who's responsible though," saying this he exchanged a dark look with Tsunade, "Do they have any kind of village affiliation on their gear, anything linking them to Konoha or any other village for that matter?"
"Actually, no, they don't? That's weird,"
"Yeah it is," Tsunade said with an exasperated sigh, "Fuck this day just keeps getting better and better."
Naruto, Sakura just stood confused. Sasuke was standing against a tree with his Icha Icha out. It was obvious he was listening but he was trying to be as aloof as possible. If you were going to be cool you had to be cool all the time. That was something he learnt from Kakashi.
"What are you going on about now Baa-chan? Did you hit your head in the fight with Kimimaro? We won! No one died! Sasuke is he-!"
"Kid," She said seriously, "This is way above your pay grade, I think we need to go have a talk with the Hokage as soon as possible. Get us back to the village."
If Hiashi and Tsunade's suspicions were correct they had more than Orochimaru to worry about. Danzou was up to his old tricks again.
Hiashi and Tsunade knew enough about ROOT when it was being officially being run by the old geezer to know it was bad news.
Ever since the Chunin Exam everything had been going to hell.
xXx
The Raikage was a tank of a man. His physical size intimidated almost anyone just by virtue of him being in the same room as them. His height was still apparent even as he sat behind a desk, and for once he wasn't wearing his Kage's hat. His white hair was slicked back, and his moustache and beard were clearly visible in the light of the room while his pronounced cheekbones even further accentuated the grave look he was giving Jiraiya.
"So what brings the legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin to my village? I know it wasn't just to spy on the hot springs, or I'd have kicked you out. So what is it, and don't waste my time Jiraiya," the Raikage said sternly.
"Ahhh yes, the fine women of this village, and they really are fine, it's been much too long since I've last been here."
"Get to the point pervert," the Raikage looked mighty close to slamming his fist through the table in impatience. I guess if you could move as fast as he could you'd have impatient tendencies.
"Fine, I've come with a warning, yours is the first village I've come to visit and I'm going to make the roun-,"
The Raikage's countenance hardened and the guards in the room all drew weapons.
"You think you can threaten us just because you've got the fourths brat doing that jutsu!" This time his hand went through the table, unhindered by restraint.
"Oh shit, so you've heard about that?"
"Word spreads quickly in this country sage. Now before I kill you I want to hear the threat that Konoha decided to have you send to each village. I'm surprised that they sent you here first, I hope they didn't think you'd make it out alive."
"No NO!" Jiraiya said quickly, "Naruto wouldn't harm a flea unless it tried to bite him, you shouldn't fear the boy. I'm here with news of a threat to everyone. Ourselves included."
This enlightenment kept the Raikage from launching himself across the table and flattening the Sannin.
"Go on," he said sternly, still very much on guard.
"We obviously got off on the wrong foot. Konoha isn't of the mind to threaten anyone. I came here to warn you of a threat to your Jinchuuriki. A threat to every Jinchuuriki, even ours."
"You have a Jinchuuriki?" this was news to A, but it wasn't long until the pieces fell together and he realized exactly which Biju the village of Konoha was keeping in the wings, "The Kyuubi, well you kept that secret for a while,"
"Yes, we did, but this threat supersedes the need for secrecy, now can we talk in private?"
"Hmmm, leave us," He said to the guards in the room, he could defend himself if Jiraiya really was a threat, "Yugito, you can stay,"
The kunoichi was the shinobi that had escorted him originally from the hot springs. And damn was she a fine specimen. With straight blonde hair tied back with bandages she wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse that revealed to the Sannin that while she wasn't as blessed as Tsunade she was still rather stacked. In fact he was having trouble keeping his eyes off her figure. The red belt she wore around her waist was more than enough to accentuate the hourglass figure that she was sporting.
As distracting as she was Jiraiya wasn't daft, "Jinchuuriki then?" he asked when they were alone.
She looked at A before he nodded and she spoke up, "Hai, Jiraiya-sama," She looked slightly nervous to be there, something that the Raikage picked up on.
"Oh for kami's sake girl, I'll not have you standing there useless, just ask him for his bloody autograph,"
A small grin broke out on the girl's face as she moved forward, a copy of Icha Icha Paradise appearing in her hands from nowhere.
Even the Raikage was a little amused, something that rarely happened, "I had my suspicions. The fact that she didn't beat you senseless when she brought you in was evidence enough though, whoever thought the almighty Yugito-nii was a closet Icha Icha fan," he chuckled at his own exposition as Jiraiya finished the autograph with a flourish, writing his room number at the bottom of the page as subtly as he could.
An incredibly hot, womanly, Icha Icha crazed Jinchuuriki. She had to be kinky and he'd be damned if he wasn't getting in on that.
Now that the pleasantries were out of the way the Raikage returned to his no nonsense mood.
"So what is this threat?" he said matter of factly.
Jiraiya wasn't about to beat around the bush, he'd do that later, with some Jinchuuriki company.
"A rogue organization known as Akatsuki. I'm not entirely sure of their composition, but I do know that they are home to a number of high level S rank missing nin. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are just two of their number. They seem to be hunting for Jinchuuriki and for the most part have no trouble infiltrating a village courtesy of their skill.
I'm sure there are other major threats within the organization. My sources reveal that Orochimaru himself was a member. So I hope that drives home the caliber of shinobi they might have at their disposal.
All I'm saying is be careful, because you won't know they were here until your Jinchuuriki are gone."
"Hahahahah, thank-you for the warning, but surely you don't think we would be incapable of defending ourselves from a few rogue ninja?" the Raikage was confident in the skill of his two Jinchuuriki, they'd be fine.
Jiraiya's countenance hardened again and he leaned forward in his chair.
"You don't understand, I wouldn't be coming here to warn you if this threat wasn't incredibly serious, they are all incredibly dangerous."
"And how do you know all this?"
Jiraiya sighed, he may as well tell them if it helped drive the point across. They didn't need this organization getting their hands on any bijuu. "Because they made an attempt at our Jinchuuriki."
"And you fought them off?"
"Only just. We were attacked by Itachi and Kisame, that's how I know they are a part of Akatsuki."
"And they failed?"
"Only because I had help defending the Jinchuuriki," Jiraiya would be damned if he revealed that Naruto was the container for the Kyuubi, "and because it seemed like the attempt was simply them snatching at an opportunity that presented itself. I'm sure that next time they'll be much better prepared,"
"Even so you defeated them yes?"
"Drove them off, not defeated."
xXx
(Meanwhile in Konoha)
The Hokage was incredibly relieved with the success of the mission. Other than the injury suffered by the Hyuuga prodigy Neji it had been a complete success.
The team had even managed to recover the body of a Kaguya with the cursed seal and retrieve a living sound-nin in the form of Tayuya. She'd been escorted to the 'information' department before she could wake up.
Tsunade had insisted.
The Hokage's relief though was mainly due to the team all agreeing to give him the good news first.
Hiruzen stood beaming at the four young ninja in front of him in the form of Karin, Sasuke, Sakura and his favorite youngster of all Naruto. They had each recounted their battles and he knew he'd be giving field promotions to both Sasuke and Naruto. He'd get Neji's recount when the boy had recovered from his injuries, he was sure he'd be receiving a promotion himself. From what Sasuke said the young Hyuuga had acted admirably.
Karin's efforts were easily enough for him to remove the restrictions that she was currently under and he could stop having her tailed. She could officially become an active, unrestricted genin of Konoha. She had the skill of a chunin, but genin was still the best he could do for her with the current situation among the village leaders.
However even he couldn't avoid the sinking feeling in his stomach as all the stories came to an end. There was something off, least of all the fact that they only brought back one dead sound ninja. That and Tsunade and Hiashi didn't look too happy.
The feeling of unease wasn't as prevalent among the children, but it was still there. Something else had happened that they were saving for last, and if they were saving it for last it must have been something serious.
Hiruzen sighed, "And what's the bad news?"
Tsunade smirked for only a second, glad the old man wasn't losing his touch, "We were tailed by another group of ninja, shinobi that bore no affiliation. Shinobi that were heading back toward Konoha with the other bodies and shinobi that were only detected thanks to Karin's Mind's Eye of Kagura."
Naruto then decided it was his turn to speak, "I don't know how we were followed though. I mean we left with the Hiraishin and we left so quickly who the hell even knew?"
"Yeah, they didn't attack us, but tailing us like that is creepy," Sasuke, added.
Hiruzen knew though, and he wasn't happy. He'd only told Danzou of the rescue. Ninja with no affiliation, gathering corpses, tailing the rescue team and retreating with almost no trace, thank kami for that Mind's Eye technique. It all was eerily clear for the old man. Danzou was still running ROOT behind his back. The only advantage Hiruzen now had was that Danzou didn't know he knew.
"Okay, you are all dismissed," he said to the young shinobi, "get back to your homes. I need to talk to Tsunade and Hiashi," He stopped to think for a second, "Actually Naruto return here when you drop your friends home," He needed to talk to Jiraiya, and for that he needed Naruto.
"Awwww man!" Naruto exclaimed, he hated being left out of things. He was quickly shut up by the combined look from all three of the elder shinobi that said 'This is way above your pay-grade so shut up and do as you're told'
"Tch, whatever, it's not like I care about it, I'm just glad to be back," Sasuke said as cooly as possible, "Let's get out of here Naruto, I need a bath, I think I have crispy bits of that Ukon guy in my hair,"
"Fiiiinnneeee," Naruto complained as he grabbed his friends and disappeared.
Karin and Sakura were just glad to be going home.
The blonde reappeared a moment later.
"Okay Naruto, this really isn't something I can tell you just yet, but I do need to talk to Jiraiya,"
"Right, so you want me to go get him then?" Naruto was a little excited to be helping, even if they wouldn't fill him in.
"Yes, but," the Hokage added before Naruto could flash away, "Just check his surroundings before you pull him out, he could be doing something important."
"Right, right," Naruto said with a concentrated look on his face, "Umm he's sitting in a room,"
"What else?" Tsunade asked, quite curious as to what her former teammate was up to.
"Umm there's a really hot blonde in there with hi-,"
"GO AND GET HIS ASS AND BRING HIM BACK HERE SO I CAN BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HIM," the former curious Tsunade screamed in fury before Naruto could explain that the blonde was in Kunoichi attire.
That didn't matter anymore though, there was a raging Tsunade in the room, and you didn't question a raging Tsunade if you wanted to live much longer.
He disappeared in a flash.
xXx
Naruto appeared in between a rather large man with dark skin and his teacher. He was crouched on the desk that sat between them like a frog staring straight into the eyes of the intimidating man whose name he didn't know. A frog that had just hopped into a very awkward situation as the three people looked on gob smacked.
"Fuck, I just interrupted something important didn't I?" Naruto blurted out as soon as he took note of his surroundings and the growing rage of the man in front of him. He quickly tacked on a, "I'll bring him back soon I promise," before grabbing Jiraiya and disappearing, leaving only a Hiraishin kunai jutting out of the chair the Sannin had been sitting on only moments before.
The cute red haired receptionist had been having a rather nice, calm night, even with all the ninja coming and going.
That was until a desk flew through the double doors that led into the office of the Raikage.
"ARGHHHHHHHH!"
xXx
"Now you've done it brat," Jiraiya said as soon as the quesy sensation in his stomach had passed and he got his bearings, "You fucking pissed off the Raikage. And I was actually making some small amount of progress,"
Tsunade had been about pound the living daylights from the white haired man in front of him when she paused.
"At getting in the pants of that hot Jinchuuriki,"
Naruto, Hiashi and Hiruzen then proceeded to wait as Jiraiya made his way back into the room through the newly created man shaped hole in the wall.
He rubbed the back of his head as he entered, "But in all seriousness I think I was getting across the threat of the Akatsuki, why'd you have to ruin it?"
As much as he hated Naruto he figured the kid had a pretty good reason to bring him back to the Hokage's office. He sighed inwardly.
"What happened?" he asked dejectedly, knowing what he was about to hear wouldn't be good.
Hiruzen wasn't going to pull punches, "Orochimaru tried to kidnap Sasuke, but we managed to get him back. Apart from Orochimaru still being alive, well and still plotting we've got a threat closer to home. Time to go Naruto, I'm sorry but you don't need to hear this,"
"Awwww ma-," he was cut-off by his disappearing act and the room was silent.
"So what is it?" the white haired sage asked.
"Danzou is still running ROOT," Tsunade spoke up, pissed at their current situation. Between Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and Danzou off doing whatever he damn well pleased things weren't exactly looking great.
"Fuck,"
"Yep," was all Hiashi thought necessary to add.
This could mean so many things, nearly all of them bad. Their long night was about to get a lot longer.
xXx
(Meanwhile, somewhere underneath Konoha)
"Danzou-sama, we retrieved the bodies that we could without being detected, and we observed the fights as best we could from the safe distance we'd set up. The combat abilities of the children are quite impressive." The masked shinobi said from the darkness.
"Good, good, get to work on uncovering whatever secrets you can from the bodies, especially the cursed seal. This has been an advantageous venture," Danzou finished with a chuckle as he walked away from the little light there was in the tunnels beneath the village.
They'd observed the children, Sasuke had been retrieved without intervention, and the corpses of Kekkai Genkai and cursed seal users had been recovered, not all of them in good condition, but nonetheless it had been a good day.
As usual it had all gone down without detection. Or so he thought.
By the time they would have noticed the missing bodies his ninja would have been far out of the range of even Hiashi.
xXx
"Dobe, stop jumping around, we all just fought for our lives and you act like you just woke up," Sasuke said as he sat on the couch of the living room, having just finished taking a bath. He was finally not covered in filth, now all he needed was some peace and quiet.
Sakura had rushed home to relieve the worries of her parents, while Karin had gone to have a bath before bed; between her fight and the drain of Samehada she needed some rest and relaxation.
"You know I always have energy, unless I've been spamming Hiraishin and Rasengan like there's no tomorrow. The fight with Sakon wasn't nearly as taxing as the one with Kisame. At least I could beat Sakon though. Fighting Kisame again probably wouldn't end well for me right now."
"Right, it's that bloody fox isn't it?"
"Pretty much," Naruto said as he plopped down next to his best friend with a bowl of ramen in his hands.
"Dude, chill, if you've got so much energy, go see what happened to Neji and Hanabi. Actually that reminds me, I should probably check up on her. Ughh, I hate being smart. Ignorance would be so much easier,"
"What?" Naruto said, having drifted off for a bit, his attention entirely on the noodles caught between his chopsticks.
"Exactly,"
"Oh shuddup," he said as he snapped back to reality with a mouthful of noodles, "you know I'd kick your ass,"
"Yeah whatever, now get us over to the hospital I want to see how those two are holding up."
xXx
Hanabi awoke groggily from sleep to find herself in a hospital. The last thing she remembered was some strange ninja confronting her and her mentor Sasuke in the training ground. She was really hoping she was in the Konoha hospital.
Looking around she could see another person in the bed next to her, their shape silhouetted against the curtain between them by the moonlight shining through the window. There was no real indicator of where she was other than the medical equipment that told her she was in a hospital.
Pulling the covers back from over the top of her she slipped out of the bed as quietly as possible, looking for her clothes. After a minute of silently changing she made her way to the door, barely making a noise as she entered the hallway and turned left down the hall.
Only to feel the pressure of a hand on her shoulder.
She tensed, ready to lash out at her would be attacker.
"Where do you think you're going short-stuff?" a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.
Turning fully around her eyes widened in delight at seeing her mentor looking down at her before she ran into him, hugging him around the waist.
"Come on now, we can't have dobe here thinking we're soft now can we?"
"No Sasuke-sama," she said firmly after she pulled away, a puzzled look coming to her face, "And how come I didn't just see you? I just checked down that hall before moving out,"
"We're better ninja than you, it's why I'm teaching you and not the other way around," she looked a little downcast at being caught out so easily, "come on," he said, leading Naruto and Hanabi back into the room she'd just been caught leaving. At least now she knew she was in Konoha, and not some foreign hospital.
"Umm, what happened, why am I even in the hospital Sasuke-sama?" the little Hyuuga heiress asked her mentor formally.
Between Naruto and Sasuke they had no trouble explaining the situation.
"So we beat down the guys that took you and then headed to meet up with Hiashi and Tsunade," Naruto finished the story exuberantly, he was glad he had someone to tell that hadn't actually been there. More people had to hear about how awesome he was.
"Speaking of which -," a voice that they recognized as Neji's sounded out from behind the curtain, "how is my uncle? Was this Kimimaro really such a great threat?"
Neither Naruto or Sasuke had realized that the person behind the curtain had been awake, let alone Neji. The blonde leaned back from his position on Hanabi's bed and swept the curtain aside to reveal the pale Hyuuga.
"Yeah," Sasuke said, "Tsunade and Hiashi were both able to handle him."
"He took a serious beating, but he looked pretty deadly," Naruto added.
"Naturally, he was a shinobi," Neji said matter of factly.
"Anyway, how are you holding up?" the blunt blonde said, gesturing toward the teen's bandaged arm.
"I'm not sure," Neji said somberly as he looked down at the hand now missing two fingers, "It'll be a while before I know how much damage has been done. There was a doctor in here just before you guys got here and Hanabi woke up. Said they couldn't do much but clean the wound, stitch up what was there and bandage it. They're not sure how much chakra control I'll have in that hand anymore,"
The Hyuuga prodigy looked torn. He might have just lost the ability to use Jyuuken in one of his hands, but he wasn't about to give up hope. Right, hope. The concept of hope was rather new to him. But ever since being told the truth about his father he had hope for his future, and for the future of his clan. He wasn't about to let this injury stop him from fulfilling his dreams.
Naruto and Sasuke just let Neji sit and think. Losing two fingers was a big deal as a shinobi, especially when you relied on your hands so much. But Neji was strong; he'd pull through this.
It would be a good example for the rest of the genin of Konoha though. That the world wasn't all rainbows and lollipops, that there was serious danger present and that they couldn't be idling in their training. They all needed to get stronger.
"See ya around Neji," Naruto said quietly, snapping the boy from his stupor. The hospital staff would probably be pretty pissed if they found them here at this hour of the morning, so he figured that they should probably go. Looking over at Sasuke the black haired boy nodded, it was evident he was thinking the same thing.
Sasuke turned to his mentee before they left, "Get some rest, you've got some training to do if we want to beat Naruto and Sakura's students."
"Hai, Sasuke-sama," the little girl said enthusiastically as she hopped back into bed. Even if it was sleeping; if it was an order from Sasuke then she was okay with it.
"Pfft, whatever teme, my minion is going to blow yours out of the water," Naruto said with a laugh, despite Hanabi being right there.
"Minion?"
"What else would I call him?"
"I dunno dumb ass, maybe student?" Sasuke sighed. His friend was smart and talented, but man he was weird. But then again, most ninja were. They'd been taking lessons from the master of weird, Jiraiya of the Sannin, so it was only natural.
"Nah, minion sounds way coole-," and with that they were gone, leaving Hanabi alone to think about the days ahead and Neji to think about exactly what he'd do about his injury.
For so long everything in Konoha had seemed calm to the young Hyuuga. And then the chunin exams came and his world had been turned upside down.
Things are starting to get interesting! Anyway on to question and answer time!
Suikofan: Considering I'm not entirely sure what Tobimaru's Eternal Darkness Jutsu is you may want to be a little more specific. PM me explaining or linking it to me, because I can't seem to find anything on google and if I think she'd learn it and get's the chance to learn it then she will. :)
Anon69: Naruto won't have a harem, although that doesn't mean other characters won't. I think it's pretty obvious by now who will be getting the sweet sweet love of all the women.
MasterWarden: Yeah I know the pacing is a bit touch and go. It's been getting better and it is better in my other story, thanks to my awesome beta, who, although observant people already know who it is, shall go unnamed until this story is finished. Glad you like it.
Icarus Wax Wings: I probably (definitely) should have had more relationship building between Karin and Naruto and my revised version probably will have more of it when I go back and add scenes when I've finished this story. I just kind of wanted to jump ahead though and get through the plot. I myself was incredibly keen to write the finals so that was why it seemed rushed. I can be impatient at the worst of times :P.
Hanabi's Biggest Fan: Thanks for the praise man, means a lot. Hanabi and the Hyuugas will be involved in the story more as it progresses. I like the Hyuuga clan and Hanabi is an awesome character. Then again so are Neji and Hinata. They all bring something else to the table, Hinata especially since she's now got a vendetta against Karin almost. Most of the stuff you discussed in your awesome review has yet to come to pass obviously. What happens to Tayuya and more interactions between the Konoha 13 and the mentees will be discussed next chapter. Expect a showdown between the mentees either next chapter or the chapter after. :)
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed, I hope this story keeps growing in popularity the way it has been because it's great to know people like reading what I write :)
Have a good one guys, and if you haven't read my other story you should go do that :P It only has three chapters so it shouldn't take long.
Also now that I have two stories I'm going to try my best to alternate between the two. Shinobi Son Gohan might get double updates in order to get it up to speed, not sure yet. But I am trying to keep this updated more regularly now.
Anyway thanks for being awesome guys, catch ya next time.