Sup lads, ladettes. Been a long time, so sorry for the wait. Not much more to say except I'm trialling a schedule for myself to fit in around uni and work for writing that should have me updating this story and my other stories more frequently. One can hope it works! :) Anyway without further ado enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It's a good thing too or it'd never get updated.
The Champion of Clan Namikaze
Chapter 18: Fight!
xXx
(4 days since the rescue mission; 4 days until the scheduled fight)
"I mean we haven't really done much except cuddle since the night I got drunk, do you think everything's okay?"
Sakura had been sitting on the main porch of the clan building practicing her medical jutsu and chakra control when Karin had stumbled outside to join her. She looked physically exhausted. Every day she'd been expending monstrous amounts of chakra in order to find something out of place and aside from the one or two dead-zones from around the village that she'd reported she simply hadn't come up with any more intelligence, despite changing her search location every day.
At least she'd been giving her chakra network a workout.
Despite her physically weakened state she'd still managed to join Sakura for a small amount of training on the porch of the large house she was lucky enough to live in.
At first they'd started talking about the state of the village and how everything was going to hell. It was then the conversation had drifted to a more personalized topic.
"Tell me about it! Kami, BOYS! I'll never understand them," Sakura complained as she practiced her nature manipulation, the leaf in her hand flaring for a moment as she became more angry with her situation, "I mean I full on kissed him and he hasn't said a thing. He's had days to say something about it. But no, he's done nothing today and being a boy I bet he'll do nothing tomorrow."
"Naruto knows I would do anything for him," Karin continued, seamlessly changing the focus of the ranting, "But do I have to initiate every moment of physical intimacy? He's so clueless. I told him I was his girlfriend and I even put my tongue in his mouth, what more do I need to do to make the situation clearer? Do I need to force him to read Icha Icha?"
"Ugh too much information Karin," Sakura didn't need that mental picture, "But we are talking about Naruto here, he's pretty clueless," she simply added as she picked up another leaf, "That being said Sasuke reads Icha Icha and look where it's gotten me. I don't even know if he likes me. He's certainly warmer toward me than usual but he hasn't made a move!"
"Maybe he hasn't decided?" Karin wondered, actually contributing to the topic of conversation at hand instead of changing it for once.
"Decided what? I mean come on, what other women does he have in his life?"
"Well there are plenty aren't there?" Karin continued as she focused on chakra manipulation, "I mean I don't know many of your friends but there's Ino and Tenten, surely there are others? This isn't a small village."
"Hmph, don't remind me," Sakura grumbled before changing the subject, "What about Naruto? Maybe he's not being affectionate because he's unsure? Hinata does like him after all."
"Never!" Karin said defensively, "He said he didn't like her and Naruto-kun never lies! Gah!" she shouted in frustration, having had enough of trying to understand either Naruto or Sasuke.
"Boys," Sakura sighed.
"Boys…"
"What about boys?" Tsunade said with a mocking smile as she approached the deck, walking up the straight path extending from the house to the main gate.
Sakura blushed, and Karin looked down at the leaf she was manipulating with her chakra, "Uhhh, nothing," the young red head replied shakily. As much as she loved Tsunade this was not a subject she wanted to delve into with the woman. There were some things you didn't discuss with Tsunade, one of them was men.
"Yeah right. Now who do I have to go beat up?" Tsunade grinned, mashing her fist into her palm.
"No really!" Sakura shouted waving her hands in an effort to placate the elder woman.
An elder woman who proceeded to laugh, a crazy grin on her face, "Hahahaha, I'm just messing with you," she mocked as she strode past them and opened the door before turning back around, "Tell Naruto that he, Sasuke and Neji will be getting their flak jackets tomorrow and I've been told that you've also been given a day off Karin. The Hokage thinks he's been working you too hard, which as a medic I'm inclined to agree with. Anyway brats, I'm off to bed, that 22 hour shift didn't agree with me," she yawned and slammed the door shut, leaving the two girls in stunned silence.
Sakura sighed, "Why do all powerful shinobi have to be so crazy?" in response they heard a growl and a stomp from inside.
"What'd you say brat!"
"Eeep!" Sakura started, before raising her voice, "I said why do all powerful shinobi have to be so lovely!"
They heard another grumble and what sounded like "You're lucky I'm too tired to care what you really said," before the sound of someone climbing the stairs was the only noise pervading the strangely still air.
Hoping that Tsunade really was too tired to care, and wasn't about to come flying through the floor at them from above, they went back to focusing their chakra, neither of the two girls feeling inclined to comment any further.
xXx
Naruto was excited to be finally getting his flak jacket. While he may as well have been a chunin this made it official, and so with one of the goofiest grins he'd ever sported he stood before Iruka at the academy to be presented with his jacket. There was no official ceremony or anything and the Hokage was too busy to do it himself but Naruto was okay with it. He was kind of glad that Iruka was the one to do it. He'd been one of the only people that actually cared about Naruto during his later academy days.
"So, I guess this makes it official," the scarred man smiled warmly, "Don't go get any more promotions though Naruto, or you'll soon outrank me, and we can't have that," he joked.
"Yeah yeah, you know I'm gonna be Hokage some day. And then you won't be able to stop me from pranking you," Naruto replied with a calm smile.
"Alright guys," Iruka chuckled, having finished handing out Sasuke's and Neji's flak jackets, "stay out of trouble and get out of here, I've got a class to teach in five minutes,"
"Sure you don't need a hand keeping the rascals in check?" Naruto offered with a cheeky grin; Sasuke, Sakura and Karin, who had decided to tag along now that she had a day off, all dead-panned.
"Yes Naruto, I'm sure, now I'll see you all later," he turned and left, leaving the five of them to exit the lobby themselves.
When they reached the main gate Sakura split from the group, "Congratulations Sasuke-kun," she hugged the black haired boy who didn't seem fussed at all about the contact before pulling away, "I promised my mom I'd help her with some work, so I'll see you around!"
They bid farewell and parted ways, the four of them heading to the training grounds of the village almost instinctively. Karin was taking a rest day and the three recently promoted chunin didn't have any pressing matters to attend to, so for now they were just chatting as they strolled through the village, Sasuke looking up from his book only when he had anything to add to a topic of conversation. Naruto would have been training Konohamaru but the three youngsters were still in class at the academy, no doubt at this very second giving Iruka hell.
He smiled at the thought, putting his hands behind his head and looking up to the picture perfect blue of the sky.
Naruto had to say, Neji was a pretty good guy now that he'd gotten over whatever it was that made him such an ass before the exams and while he was sometimes a little awkward he was no more so than Naruto was erratic; the Hyuuga was good company.
So, thankful of the beautiful weather common to Konoha, they made their way to an open circular meadow full of long grass and surrounded by the woods that separated many of the training grounds of the village.
Karin dropped to the ground, flattening the grass and beckoning for Naruto to join her.
Sasuke bounced around on the balls of his feet; strangely energetic and not wanting to do nothing with his day he turned to Neji, "Hey, Neji. How about we spar? See how you go with your injury."
Secretly he just didn't want to start third wheeling if he sat down with Naruto and Karin. That would just be awkward.
"Hmm, I suppose I should see how my abilities have been limited against another shinobi. Hiashi-sama has wanted me to give my hand a little more time to heal before he has the clansmen get me back to fighting form. But I can always not use my hand, though that in itself would be somewhat opposed to the entire purpose of testing my current ability."
"Sounds like a plan but don't think I'll be taking it easy on you, and besides, if you turned me down you'd be third wheeling that," Sasuke grimaced, pointing to where Naruto was now lying on his back with Karin resting her head on his chest.
"Hey you're just jealous teme!"
"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke couldn't help but grin.
"I see your point Sasuke-san, well let's begin shall we?"
"Alright, but promise me you'll start dropping the formalities. You sound so stuffy." the Uchiha highlighted bluntly. Formalities just weren't a habit of any kind when you lived with the likes of Naruto, Tsunade, and Jiraiya.
"Ugh," Neji was perturbed, formalities were ingrained during the childhood of a Hyuuga, and to not use them might be more difficult than Sasuke thought, "I guess I could try Sasuke-s-"
"Ah!" Sasuke scolded, pointing at the Hyuuga, "None of that," he added before he pulled out his Icha Icha with his right hand and began reading it, beckoning Neji with his left, "Let's go," he mocked, "What?," he asked when Neji hesitated, "I'm still not going easy on you."
"You really are a strange group of people," Neji thought aloud, "But I like it," he added with a small grin before charging the young Uchiha in a blur of speed, his right hand held behind his back to keep his balance.
The fighting was fiercely paced, especially coming from someone with such an injury but in the end a Sasuke with a Sharingan, even one handed, was too much for the Hyuuga. Sasuke wasn't one to hit a comrade while he was injured, and he didn't, but when it came down to it Neji simply couldn't hit his target. With one hand free to deflect any of Neji's attacks that he wasn't fast enough to dodge Sasuke was able to simply maneuver around Neji; darting, strafing, dodging.
The scene was a fluid dance and Karin and Naruto both took the time to become enthralled.
And so too did a few others.
It wasn't long into the fight that Team Kurenai arrived, the three pupils and their sensei striding up behind Naruto and Karin to watch the training.
Karin had known they were coming, thanks to her current mission it was becoming even easier for her to use the Mind's Eye of Kagura almost all the time, and while she recognized the younger shinobi approaching she had no idea who the elder was. She assumed that she was their sensei; she had seen her around the village on occasion.
Naruto, having propped himself up with his hands to watch the fighting, turned and raised an arm to wave once the four of them got close enough, "Hey guys!" he shouted with a bright smile.
Kurenai smiled in return, "Hello Naruto, it's nice to see you slacking off every now and again," she said slyly, a grin adorning her almost perfect features.
He responded with an indignant, "Hey! Greatness needs rest too you know," to which she just laughed before he continued, "Wouldn't you agree Kiba?"
"Hell yeah bro!" the young Inuzuka replied as the young pup that was Akumaru barked agreement from his shoulder.
"Hey Hinata, Shino," Naruto nodded in the direction of the stoic bug user to finish the courtesies before turning back to the fight that was still playing out with Neji desperate to land a strike.
"Ahem," Kurenai cleared her throat, getting Naruto's attention once more before gesturing at Karin who was still feeling uncomfortable that she'd been left out of the conversation, "Introductions genius,"
Kurenai knew who Karin was, given she was a high ranking jounin, but she had to admit, as much as Naruto had gained respect amongst the higher-ranking shinobi for his previously untapped skill and the deadly ability to use the Hiraishin, he could still be incredibly tactless. Although she had to admit, taking into account that he grew up as a neglected orphan, Naruto's lack of social skills really couldn't be helped. It wasn't as if Kakashi would have been much of an influence on him anyway, 'That damn bastard is always late.'
"Oh right, sorry," he muttered turning to Karin, "Karin-chan, this is Kurenai-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, this is Karin,"
Kurenai softened her gaze a little before turning to Karin, "He left out the bit about how I could kick his ass,"
Knowing it was true Naruto just turned back to the fight without a word as Kiba, Shino and Hinata sat down next to the two of them.
"Exactly," Kurenai smiled at her small victory when Naruto didn't bother replying.
"So you guys finally got promoted. That's awesome," Kiba admired, taking in the look of Naruto, Sasuke and Neji in their flak jackets, "The first full chunin squad from our class and you guys haven't even been genin a year. Do you think the Hokage will give you each a separate squad now?"
The sweat was beading down Neji's face as he desperately tried to hit Sasuke while the young boy feigned reading his book, moving fluidly around and under each and every strike.
"Kami I hope not, we haven't even been a squad that long; besides we all work too well together."
"Don't get cocky kid," Kurenai commented from her standing position behind all of them, "I'm sure they'll split you up when you least expect it," she finished with a playful grin.
"I just wonder what team I'll get put into," Karin added thoughtfully on the topic of squads, "I hope I have teammates as good as Team 7,"
"Don't we all," Kiba uttered before realizing who he'd said that in the company of, "I mean I love my team!" he blurted as three death glares were leveled at him, "It's just after everything that's happened Team 7 are so cool!"
Hinata could concede that, Naruto was the coolest person she knew. He never let anyone get him down and he was one of if not the strongest shinobi in their age group. She really wished that she were in his group as she sent sidelong glances his way.
She was getting stronger, but she might not be getting strong enough fast enough and she needed to make sure he knew she was worthy of his affection.
It was at this point in the conversation Neji finally conceded defeat. He'd been getting progressively closer to striking Sasuke but he had a feeling that he was never going to land a strike. He needed to get his strength and speed back and learn how to fight like a Hyuuga without two fingers and Neji knew that wasn't going to happen overnight.
Neji stood panting, "I hope I can train with you more often Sasuke-," he hesitated, showing visibly his struggle at preventing himself from using a suffix before he smiled and continued, "I have a feeling I'll get stronger a lot faster fighting opponents as talented as you all."
"Anytime Neji, and well fought," Sasuke grinned, "but you'll have to be faster next time. Remember, I train against Naruto, who has the goal of becoming faster than his father was."
"Damn straight!" Naruto added from the sidelines of the encounter.
"It is true, I need to become stronger if I'm to compete with the Sharingan. That truly is a powerful Kekkai Genkai."
Sasuke just nodded before walking back over to group, "So who else wants to fight?"
"What are you talking about Teme, can't we all just relax? I mean I spent all of last night training," Naruto replied, wanting to rest with Karin. Just this once he wanted to stop and smell the roses, as Jiraiya would put it. Although he had a feeling Jiraiya meant something different entirely.
"And here I was thinking you were the one with unlimited energy," Sasuke mocked only to have a kunai thrown at him at lightning speed and for Naruto to stick his tongue out before falling backwards onto the grass.
Sasuke simply caught the kunai and tucked it into his pouch; it now belonged to him.
Shino leaned to his left to whisper to Kiba, "Would you have been able to catch that Kiba-san?"
The young Inuzuka simply gulped before shaking his head, his bewilderment at the two quirky shinobi increasing along with his respect.
"Actually…" Karin took the chance to speak and when no one protested she continued, "I have a new style, so to speak, that I want to try. I had an idea a few weeks ago and haven't had the chance to really test it against anyone. Now is as good as any I suppose, I just need someone to fight me."
She stood up, and as she waited for a volunteer took off her glasses, handing them off to Naruto, "Hey, but don't you need these?" he questioned almost as soon as they reached his palm and his fist closed around them protectively.
Karin simply smiled as she closed her eyes and shook her head and Naruto couldn't help but be overwhelmed with how beautiful he found her. Every subtle movement she made, the way her hips swayed as she strode confidently toward the center of the meadow, each and every motion and mannerism he found attractive. Sometimes he forgot, with how focused he was with training and how crazy things had been, how lucky he was.
The way she smiled at him was like the way no other person did. And it warmed him from the bottom of his heart.
He was snapped back to reality when the person to approach his sweet girlfriend was none other than Hinata. Again he was surprised by her display of confidence. Why she volunteered he had no clue, but he couldn't fault her, she was helping Karin after all.
Karin knew exactly what was going on and wasn't having any of it, she frowned, "This isn't a competition," she uttered, her eyes still closed, "Naruto loves me," she added, making sure to keep the conversation at a level that only Hinata could hear.
"He won't when he sees what I'm capable of," Hinata said calmly, "Naruto has always been amazing. He never let anybody get him down and when he fought Neji he showed everyone that he was above the abuse he used to receive. I was so timid before and I lost my chance. But there is still hope and I'm not going to be the girl I was if it means I lose Naruto forever. Now open your eyes and fight me." Hinata was confident she could beat Karin. She was a simple genin from another nation with no Kekkei Genkai that she knew of. What Naruto saw in her she had no idea.
Karin smiled. The idea for this style had come to her not long after Naruto began training Konohamaru in the compound and he threatened to demoralize the upstart youngster with fighting with his eyes closed and while she'd tested it against her own clones, she hadn't against a real, unpredictable combatant, but that wasn't going to get her down. She'd show Hinata what she was truly capable of. Her strength after-all was only one of the reasons that Naruto was attracted to her.
"I don't need to. And I don't need Sammy either. I'll beat you with my eyes closed."
Hinata scoffed as if Karin was being ridiculous, "Who's Sammy? Your pet?"
"Hmm you could say that but frankly, he'd eat you for breakfast. I'm serious; I don't need to open my eyes for this fight. This is the fighting style I'm talking about."
"You expect to beat a Byakugan user without using your eyes?" Hinata couldn't believe this girl. But the more the conversation dragged on the more wary she became. As much as she hated to admit it, this girl was attractive to Naruto and that meant she was somewhat worthy of attention and respect. Still, fighting a Hyuuga without vision was unheard of and in her opinion very reckless, "Whatever you say. It will be an easy win."
Karin simply smiled in return, "Whatever you say."
Hinata dashed forward boldly to strike out at her combatant.
From where the rest of the group sat spectating it looked like Hinata was blindly charging a girl with her eyes closed. And she was.
"Why does Karin still have her eyes closed? She can't expect to fight with a new technique without seeing what she's doing can she?" Kiba growled. He wasn't impressed that Hinata was attacking an opponent in training when she wasn't ready.
"I wouldn't be so sure Kiba," Sasuke replied.
Naruto then finished his sentence, "She left her glasses here for a reason."
Hinata lashed out with an open palm at an unmoving Karin.
And hit nothing.
Karin had simply snaked out of the way of the strike, as if she were floating on air with incredible speed.
Completely not expecting a counter attack Hinata then proceeded to receive two jabs to the diaphragm before she jumped back and away from Karin.
"If you're going to make this personal don't expect me to hold back," the red head said with a smile that reached her closed eyes.
"But how? You can't see me!" Hinata huffed, blowing a few errant strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail from her face.
"How did she do that!" Kiba exclaimed, "Hinata is fast and she's only been getting faster. And she didn't even have her eyes open!"
"Some can see with more than their eyes Kiba," Kurenai muttered in thought, having a general idea of Karin's fighting style now. They'd all been given a general run down on this girl and she'd heard from Yuugao that she was capable of wielding Samehada. But fighting with her eyes closed was new and incredibly demoralizing. Hinata would not be taking this well.
Naruto and Sasuke just smiled, having both worked out exactly what was happening, while Shino sat deep in thought, the stoic Aburame not saying a word.
"You won't land another hit this fight, I can guarantee it," Hinata snarled. She was not going to lose to this hussy! Her anger only ensuring her statement would in the end be false.
"I'm merely going to teach a lesson to someone who wants to take the most precious person in my life for themselves," Karin again smiled with her eyes closed and darted forward, this time faster than Hinata, and began to strike out with her left fist.
The Hyuuga saw it coming and moved to block accordingly. Her anger, frustration, and the inexperience she had fighting on tilt all resulted in her dramatically telegraphing each of her movements.
Through the use of a concentrated short range Mind's Eye of the Kagura field of vision Karin saw everything. She saw the chakra flowing through the young girl's body, empowering her muscles with the gift of life. And as a result she saw each and every one of the girls tendons contract or relax.
Her knowledge of the body through her studies as a medic was plentiful enough that she had a very good idea of exactly what Hinata was planning on doing. And in the split second she had to react to Hinata's defense she came up with a renewed plan of attack.
She continued her left handed punch through to completion, changing its path so that it would miss, but at the same time never come in contact with Hinata's defense.
Hinata, made the mistake of thinking Karin was unable to correctly judge attacks without her sight and grinned as she moved to counterattack.
Until she found the back of Karin's right fist hurtling towards her face.
The pain of the blow stunned the girl as it sent her head snapping to the side.
Karin had intentionally misguided her punch so that she could keep the momentum of the strike moving in a controlled direction, spinning her body such that she could back hand the young and then defenseless Hyuuga on the follow-through.
Continuing in such a fashion she dropped low to the ground and placed her right hand against the earth for balance as she extended her left leg and swept Hinata's legs from under her. It only took Karin a moment to back flip out of her crouched position and create some space in the conflict.
Hinata fell heavily but was back on her feet in moments. She would not be defeated so easily.
In retaliation she threw everything she had at the mysterious foreigner. She attacked in a blur, her speed having increased with her reinvigorated training, and her fists and fingers struck out, intent on causing some damage.
Karin never felt a blow.
Thanks to the skill she had with the Mind's Eye of Kagura and the sheer amount she had been using it recently, she saw every attack coming; the colorful vision of the chakra around her allowing her to read Hinata's every movement. It also didn't help that Hinata was telegraphing a lot of her attacks out of anger and frustration.
With each attack Hinata missed she felt a blow in return. Not heavy blows by any means but enough to wear someone down as Karin laid feints, or even double feints, to land her strikes on the girl trying to steal away Naruto.
Naruto trained hard, and so had she. Karin, ever since having been saved by Naruto that fateful day in the forest, had seen how often he trained and she wasn't going to fall behind. He promised to protect her and she didn't doubt that for a second, but she'd be damned if she never protected him. She was always trying to come up with new ways to get stronger.
And she would continue until she had nothing more to learn.
It wasn't long until the barrage slowed and there was a break in the combat; Hinata, bruised and battered, jumped back from the fight.
Karin took this time to open her eyes, rubbing the sweat from her brow as she panted heavily. Using the Minds Eye of Kagura in such a way was tiring and required intense concentration.
Hinata held a defeated look on her face as she glared up at Karin, nursing her light wounds.
"This isn't a competition," Karin spoke softly as the two girls stood and faced each other, "You can't win Naruto by simply beating me in a fight."
A single tear was all Karin saw streak down the Hyuuga's face before she turned and darted into the woods without a word.
"What was that all about?" Naruto asked Karin as she walked back over to the group.
Kiba groaned before Karin could respond, "Don't tell me she's off to train again. We've been training non-stop already!"
"Looks like we'll see you later," Kurenai said with a rather serious look on her face, "Come on Kiba, Shino; let's get after her."
In moments they were on their feet and departing with speed, blurring across the battlefield in pursuit of Hinata.
"I'll tell you later," Karin said in response to Naruto's previous question as she turned her gaze from him and looked to the edge of the field. Hinata was there. She could feel it.
When Hinata saw Karin stare directly at her that was all she could take and she fled into the forests of Konoha.
xXx
It didn't take long for the rest of Team Kurenai to catch up with the young girl who hadn't run very far. She knew there was no point of it and so she simply sat, resigned, beneath the shade of a tree.
Kurenai was quick to tell Shino and Kiba to back off and give them space to talk, and the look she gave them before turning and walking over to the young girl was enough for them to heed her order.
"It's okay Hinata," Kurenai reassured as she sat down beside the young girl staring blankly at the bark of the tree opposite her, hoping to receive a response. Hinata's dried tears streaking her face and her hair pulled from the ponytail she'd been sporting recently.
The small wooded area was silent save for the sound of their breathing.
"You won't win Naruto's heart with violence," she continued when the silence began to become unbearable. Kurenai went to place a hand on Hinata's shoulder but the young girl merely moved over slightly, indicating how little physical contact she was comfortable with.
"Just because he's with someone else doesn't mean he'll always be with that person. You've got to focus on yourself first. Try and make yourself happy," Kurenai explained before Hinata gave her a solemn look and she added, "And that doesn't just mean get physically stronger. It's not your faul-,"
"Yes it is," Hinata whispered, her quiet nature surfacing over the frustrated and aggressive Hinata that Team Kurenai had been on the receiving end of late, "It's my fault I didn't tell him sooner," she buried her head in her hands before continuing with her quiet shaky voice, "It's my fault that I didn't make an effort to say anything or do anything. I admired him from afar thinking I would always have my chance."
"And what makes you think you won't ever have another chance?" Kurenai asked. Sometimes the road to love was long and difficult and not always straight forward.
Hinata composed herself briefly before answering, "Because something changed. I don't know what it was, but there was something different about the way he looked at her today. I knew before I even challenged her. It was as if as I was watching Naruto he made up his mind. And it hurt. That was why I challenged her. Because for once I couldn't do nothing," she paused to look at her sensei, a women in her life that actually cared about her and how she truly felt, "I had to try something."
Kurenai, with nothing more she could say on the situation, wrapped an arm around her young charge and pulled her into a hug, muffling the soft sound of her crying.
xXx
(Later that night)
Naruto rubbed his tired eyes as he once again perused his father's notes on seal making and compared his own handiwork with the ink strokes of someone he recognized as a master of the art.
After the incident with Hinata that afternoon Karin had decided to spend the rest of the afternoon once again scouring the village with her technique to wind down from her encounter. While strenuous she did find it someone peaceful, observing the machinations of the village.
Naruto had returned to his home and set his clones to continue training. With everything that was going on in the village he'd had enough of a rest and needed to get back to work. He had so many different techniques he wanted to work on and it sometimes seemed as if he couldn't make clones fast enough.
However there was a limit to his clone training.
While his body could physically handle the chakra drain, he'd found that too many clones at anyone time would mentally drain him, occasionally he'd suffer from headaches. And so he sat mentally exhausted as fresh ideas and new techniques flashed into his mind all at once from the droves of clones he would create at the beginning of each new training session.
If it meant a headache here and there and a little bit of mental fatigue he could take it. He needed to get stronger. He didn't know who would be after him next, or when they'd arrive.
Aside from the mental fatigue he'd suffer normally today he was afflicted with an emotional confusion that rarely plagued him.
He'd normally be too busy to be bothered by such thoughts but his recent discussions with Sasuke and the time they spent in the meadow today were enough to distract him.
Closing his scrolls and sealing them away he stretched quickly before his feet carried him upstairs. He had no idea what kind of time it was but he was pretty sure he had heard Karin trudge to their room a few hours ago.
Opening the door as quietly as he could manage before slipping off his shirt and sliding into bed he tried his earnest not to wake the girl he knew was sleeping on what was now her side of the bed.
He didn't quite remember when that had exactly happened.
The first few nights she had been so scared, frightened and alone. It was too much to not let her sleep with him for comfort. Naruto had never minded and it wasn't long until they both wordlessly agreed that it was the norm. Always growing closer, it had to happen, living with someone. The same could be said about Sasuke. He effectively lived with Naruto now that they were close. But with Karin it had been different.
She'd kissed him and declared him her boyfriend.
And things should have changed right?
But they hadn't.
With everything going on, apart from her declaration and the increased affection on her part Naruto couldn't say things were really that different. He couldn't say he was someone that would deny the affections of someone else if they were blunt enough about it, and Karin was fairly straight forward when it came to that, but thinking about it he never really returned a lot of the affection either.
'I wasn't sure if I wanted to,' Naruto admitted to himself as he lay next to the girl in question.
Feeling movement next to him he lifted his right arm as she placed her head on his chest and wrapped an arm of his body.
"How was training?" she mumbled groggily in her dazed state.
"Pretty boring, spent the afternoon in the library while the clones worked outside on the dangerous stuff," he replied, "Slowly making progress though. What about you? Find anything interesting?"
"Nada," she yawned, "Not one single shred of anything,"
"You fought well today though," Naruto smiled, a smile that she could see thanks to her now persistent use of her Mind's Eye. A smile that she also saw falter, "But what was all that business with Hinata about anyway?"
"Well you know, she likes you, and dislikes me because I'm your girlfriend," Karin wasn't sure why she needed to explain it.
"But that doesn't make any sense?"
Karin rolled her eyes, "She likes you likes you, you big idiot, hence the jealousy,"
"Naaaahhh-," Naruto stopped himself short as he thought about it for a second, "Hang on," and then the penny dropped, "That actually makes sense,"
"You think?" she added with a small smile that he couldn't see but could feel through the movement of her face against his chest, "For someone who can be so smart you certainly have your moments,"
"About that boyfriend stuff," he said with a slight falter in his voice, a falter that sent shivers down her spine.
"What about it?" she replied in as even a tone as she could manage. Naruto was always so busy and wasn't the kind to always be romantic, that was just the way Naruto was, or so she'd thought, it was the only way she could rationalize his lack of romantic behavior. In that simple moment the two of them were sharing her mind ran away with the idea that Naruto had never really liked her in such a way.
"With everything that's been happening I haven't been much of one at all. I mean I haven't been one to return affection."
"I didn't notice," she interjected sarcastically in the heat of the moment, unsure of what was coming next. It got a slight nervous chuckle out of him to say the least.
"I think maybe I wasn't one hundred percent sure if I wanted to be," he continued and her breath caught in her throat, "I guess I was taking you for granted and I don't know what it was, but today I realized how much, well," he paused, thinking carefully about his next sentence.
"Go on," Karin asked nervously after finally getting a breath in. She sure as hell wasn't going to be kept in suspense any longer than necessary.
"Well, how much of a fool I've been, and how lucky I am to have you in my life," Naruto finished, relieved that he'd said what he needed to say. They were words that carried weight, words that you couldn't take back, but in saying them he had realized that he wouldn't ever want to take them back.
Karin casually proceeded to punch him rather hard in the stomach.
"Oomph, what was that for!" he cried in outrage.
"Don't you dare do that to me again!" she commanded, her confidence back now that her nightmare had ended.
"Whadya mean?" he asked, rubbing his belly.
"I thought you were going to break up with me stupid," she said rather forcefully before huffing.
Thinking about exactly what he'd said Naruto could see why she may have thought that.
"I'm sorry," he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand as she lay along his right side.
"Damn straight you are," she grinned in the darkness, "Now are you going to kiss me or not?"
"I – I," he stammered for a moment before he saw her upturned face in the moonlight that shone through windows of the third story room, her eyes looking directly into his.
No more words were needed.
Her head inclined slightly upwards once again, this time in an invitation.
An invitation he gladly took as he brought his lips to hers at first softly before she kissed him back with a fiery passion he hadn't been expecting.
Their tongues explored each other as they locked lips, holding each other tightly. Feeling as though if they were to drift apart even slightly they'd never be together again.
It wasn't long into their embrace that Naruto moved away from her luscious lips and moved above her, positioning his head so as to caress her neck with kisses.
With each brush of his lips she moaned with delight, wrapping her legs around his torso and holding him ever tighter, running her hands through his hair and gripping his back as he pleasured her with a feeling she could only describe as ecstasy.
In return she playfully tugged at his shoulder with her teeth before turning her lips to his own neck. A move he responded to in kind, the both of them sighing and moaning with each movement of the other.
She wasn't sure how long they traded between kissing and exploring each other with their mouths but each moment of it was better than the last and she was almost sad for it to end as she urged him down beside her to rest her head against his chest once again, only moments away from sleep and whispered, the happiest she had ever been, "My Naruto-kun."
Her smile only widened when she him mutter as he drifted into sleep, fatigued beyond all measure, "My Karin-chan,"
xXx
(Konoha - Training Ground 21)
Eight days had passed since Sasuke had been taken and subsequently rescued, which mean that it was time to see whose student was the better shinobi after the time they'd had to teach them.
"Konohamaru I know you can do it alright, you've got this! Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted confidently as they approached the training field where Team 7 were supposed to have completed the bell test.
Karin was waiting for them in a tree, looking out over the open space where the three children were to fight and where Hano and Sakura were waiting.
She'd been incredibly busy with helping the Hokage find something out of the ordinary going on in Konoha, but she still hadn't been able to come up with results. It was at the point where even if she'd found someone that had been there on the night of the incident she wouldn't recognize them; she'd sensed too many chakra signatures since then.
Having managed to get the day off to rest her body, as continually using her technique was draining, she had decided to spectate.
And so, it would seem, had some others.
Teams Gai and Asuma stood amongst the trees, they had downtime from missions and Naruto wouldn't shut up about how Konohamaru was going to kick ass so they came along to see what all the fuss was about
Team Kurenai was still out currently on a mission so they hadn't been able to make it. Although after last time Naruto had a feeling that Hinata would have stopped them coming even if they were back in Konoha.
"No pressure," Naruto whispered in his student's ear, "but don't screw up okay?"
All Konohamaru could do was swallow his nerves. He didn't need these older ninja to think he was useless. Losing was not an option.
They strolled into the open to meet the resolute Hano and Sakura and to wait for Sasuke. Naruto was finally glad he got to show off the flak jacket he'd received along with Sasuke and Neji.
Shikamaru was quite pleased that he and Sakura weren't the only Chunin out of the young group anymore. It might mean some of the responsibilities got shifted around and he would have to do much less.
Once again arriving fashionably late the black haired Uchiha and his student made their way over to the group and they started deciding on rules.
"Battle Royale yes?" Naruto grinned.
"That's what I was thinking," Sasuke added, if anyone could take two on one it was Hanabi.
"Whatever, Hano's going to win anyway," Sakura smirked.
"Right," Naruto turned his attention to the young students, "Don't do anything that will cause permanent damage to anybody," he ordered, directing his attention to Konohamaru with a knowing look.
"And just remember this is just for fun, to see how you've progressed, don't let it get out of hand," Sakura tried to add reassuringly.
"Tch, because that's gonna stop them," Sasuke mumbled.
"Just start it already!" Ino shouted from the tree line, getting the three members of Team 7 to snap back to reality.
"Right kids, last boy, or girl," Naruto added for the sake of Hanabi, "standing. Don't do anything stupid, and have fun," he grinned before the three chunin vacated the area, leaving the three academy students unsure of what do to next.
Unsure until the voice of one Uzumaki Naruto rang out over the training ground.
"FIGHT!"
Hanabi was the first to move, but rather than attack she decided to jump backwards, activating her immature Byakugan to try and scope out the situation. Sasuke was always saying that knowledge was power and she'd be the most powerful. He also told her to never underestimate an opponent and that he'd learnt that the hard way; it was a story she really wished he'd tell.
Konohamaru crossed his fingers, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled as two clouds of smoke erupted around him, signifying the creation of two shadow clones.
Sasuke turned to Naruto as they sat watching the fight, "Really? You taught him that?"
"Don't worry teme, I checked with Ojii-san first. The kids got some reserves, he can take it," Naruto replied, turning to face a Sasuke who looked far from worried, "You're not nervous that there are now three little minions after Hanabi?"
"She can handle herself fine enough. You're forgetting she's a Hyuuga."
Karin noticed that Sakura simply sat in silence; if Sasuke and Naruto were not paying attention to her she had to hope that Konohamaru and Hanabi would forget Hano. He knew exactly how to handle a situation like that.
Unfortunately for the young blonde, Naruto had been able to beat some measure of the stupid out of the young Konohamaru and so he sent one of the clones charging after Hano.
Hano quickly went through a number of hand seals as he jumped backwards, away from his approaching enemy.
Konohamaru wasn't going to fall for any kind of jutsu and closed the distance with great speed for someone his age. Hano looked as if he was nearing completion of the sequence, he couldn't wait any longer. He had to attack.
Lashing out with his right fist with the intent to knock out his opponent and move on to the more pressing threat of Hanabi, Konohamaru eyes glared with a fiery determination.
Hano was on the clock.
Konohamaru's fist was only moments away from contact, he had to remain composed, he had to finish the seals.
And he did.
His fingers finally resting in the bird seal he broke his stance in order to dodge the strike with a precision that Konohamaru hadn't expected. Once he'd stepped past Konohamaru's rather brazen attack Hano jabbed his outstretched fingers, still in the bird seal, lightly into the chest of the young boy, before diving clear of his opponent and standing to observe his handiwork.
Naruto growled from his position in the trees, while Sasuke just chuckled, "Nice work Sakura, who knew he'd be so adept,"
Their pink haired teammate allowed a small smile at the scene unfolding before them.
xXx
(With Hanabi)
Not good. This was so not good. She couldn't tell which of them was real, even with her Byakugan; they were perfect copies.
Naruto just had to teach Konohamaru a powerful technique like that.
The two Konohamarus came to a sliding stop on either side of her as she stood trying to assess the situation. She couldn't currently rely on Hano to help her, and even if he didn't have his own copy to deal with he might not help her anyway.
She would need to deal with this on her own.
'That's okay. I can do this,' she thought to calm herself. She focused her breathing and brought her body back under control. Her training with Sasuke-sama hadn't been for nothing. She'd be able to handle two Konohamarus.
She didn't have the time or the opportunity for any self-doubt to creep back into her mind when her two identical combatants grinned and revealed a handful of shuriken each.
Her mind darted back to one of the many exercises that Sasuke had put her through during the month he had to train her.
"Alright, you need to be able to move fluidly, but not only that you need to get your body used to changing direction in a heartbeat," her sensei Sasuke had told her when they'd started what would become one of her favorite exercises, "I'm going to throw these shuriken at you," he flashed a handful of the dark metal objects for her to see, "And you're going to dodge them as best you can,"
She gulped. The training had been tough up until now, but this was a whole new level, "What if you hit me?"
"Then move faster," Sasuke said before he turned his eyes back to his book and idly flicked his hand in her direction, loosing one shuriken.
The shuriken flew through the air faster than she'd ever expected given the movement of his arm and she had to dive roll out of its path. Getting to her feet she kept moving in a straight line, before he threw another that was on track to intercept her.
She only just managed to come to a stop in time and the shuriken sliced through the air in front of her.
"You might want to be faster than that," he added before he moved to throw another that she only just managed to avoid, "Because it's only going to get harder,"
She looked to protest before she shut her mouth, remembering what Sasuke had taught her. The shinobi world was a harsh place and you had to cherish everything that others were willing to do for you; another lesson Sasuke was not willing to elaborate on.
He was teaching her to be a better shinobi.
She would be beat Kono-baka and Hano, even if it meant doing something so crazy.
The training eventually evolved over time and before long she was returning her own shuriken in response and even blocking some with her kunai; Sasuke even admitted he was impressed.
She had done all of that, so what were two copies of Kono-baka going to do?
'If I could dodge all of Sasuke-sama's shuriken I can do this!' she thought to herself as she prepared to react, her Byakugan primed.
Two shuriken flashed through the air at first, one from each side. They were easy enough to dodge with Hanabi just contorting her body so they flew past her, however as she went to make a move toward one of the copies she was stopped dead in her tracks by another set of shuriken.
And another.
And another.
The onslaught continued for a full twenty seconds with the young girl on the back-foot before she realized what was wrong.
They weren't running out of things to throw.
"Huh," Naruto mumbled in understanding from within the trees where the rest of spectators sat, "Now the bandages on his hands make sense,"
"I'll give the kid props," Sasuke added, noticing what was going on, "That would have to take some practice."
"Yeah most days he turned up to training with bandaged hands, no doubt from practicing at home,"
"And what would that be?" Sakura asked, peering down onto the battlefield.
"Don't you find it curious that he's still got shuriken to throw Sakura-chan?" Shikamaru now said from one of the branches he sat perched upon.
Naruto nodded, "Exactly. Having two of himself on either side of her allows him to catch the projectiles that are missing. Trust Konohamaru to come up with something like that, and to actually practice it so much that his hands needed bandaging," Naruto chuckled at his student's persistence.
Hanabi, bringing her focus to back to the copies finally caught on to what was happening. The two Konohamarus were catching shuriken with one hand and throwing them with the other. She had to admit that was crafty and it was keeping her on her feet, but it was time for a gamble.
Sasuke once told her that her natural abilities lay in speed and precision and with the Byakugan to assist her she could be a deadly fighter if she honed those skills. Strength, unlike Konohamaru, was not her strong point, but she didn't need it.
It was time to put her natural ability to good use.
She closed her eyes for the briefest second, focusing her breath before she snapped them back open and took a step out of the path of one of the shuriken. Extending her right leg as a counter balance she thrust her left hand into what seemed to be the path of the deadly metal object she'd just avoided. Anyone looking close enough would see a small pointed object now spinning on her extended index finger.
Sasuke smiled, sometimes he just loved training a Hyuuga.
In a fraction of a second she'd flexed her left leg and was facing the sky. Bending backwards she posted down with her right hand and flipped out of the way of an incoming metal object.
When she stood upright she found two more shuriken flying toward her from either side, her opponents having moved to adjust for her new position; one high and one low.
Jumping where she stood and effectively threading the needle she spun in the air, reaching out with both hands to snatch the offending shuriken from their trajectories.
Sasuke continued to smile and the rest of the group watched in surprise as Hanabi continued to pluck each and every one of Konohamaru's weapons from their flight paths.
There would be no weapons to catch and re-use if she had them all.
It wasn't long before Konohamaru found himself empty handed and realizing as he blinked blankly at Hanabi, he was in trouble.
"Now it's my turn," the young black haired kunoichi grinned.
She returned the arsenal of shuriken she'd just acquired with gusto, flinging the weapons with precision at the two now panicking Konohamaru.
Not all of them hit the two copies, after all she didn't need to kill Konohamaru, just find out which of the two of them was real.
The shuriken found their marks at the same time. However both of the Konohamarus burst into smoke.
"Praise the log!" A voice screamed to her left and she spun to face down a Konohamaru that was free of stab wounds. Quickly looking back to her right she saw a log that was embedded with small dark metal objects bounce down to earth, the true clone having been dispelled while the real Konohamaru performed a substitution.
In the trees Sakura laughed, while Naruto face palmed, "He had the element of surprise and he wasted it."
Sasuke snickered with one eye hidden behind his book and the other watching the fight intently, "Yes 'But one must praise the log'," he said mockingly, "Man, we couldn't get Jiraiya to shut up about that log stuff. Like how we wouldn't get the log's assistance without proper worship of the log. Where did Konohamaru even learn that kind of crazy."
"Shuddup," Was all the reply he got from a rather annoyed Naruto.
Meanwhile, Asuma Sarutobi stood in the shadow of the trees with a rather pleased smile on his face.
"It doesn't matter Naruto-kun," Karin interjected, "Hanabi has the Byakugan, she would have seen him coming."
"Yeah I guess," Naruto sighed. As much as he believed in Konohamaru, he knew he'd be having a rough time if he tried to fight Hanabi on a level footing.
Now it was Hanabi's turn. She'd finish Konohamaru and move on to Hano. She would win and prove that she was the strongest. She'd make Sasuke-sama proud! Her feet padded the ground deftly as she swiftly closed the gap that separated the two youngsters and Konohamaru grinned as he shifted himself into position.
He'd be ready.
xXx
Hano couldn't help but smile at the success of his technique. He was so very glad that Sakura had decided to teach him genjutsu.
Standing in front of him with the most ridiculous look on its face was a Konohamaru clone. It was looking toward the sky with its hands on its hips and a massive grin adorning its features.
Hano had to admit the False Victory Illusion had been a lifesaver this time. It was a simple matter of tapping into Konohamaru's greatest momentary desire and bringing it to life for him.
He no doubt thought he'd knocked out both Hano and Hanabi single-handedly and was soaking in the applause of the spectators.
The only downside of the technique was that it required a very specific physical contact in order to trigger the illusion. That small downside counter-balanced the moves rather technical ease and its usefulness in a situation such as this.
He smiled, walking over to his opponent. Just as he reached him however he felt his attention being drawn to the side. Not too far away in the open meadow that they found themselves he could see both Hanabi and Konohamaru both fiercely duking it out.
Chances are he'd be fighting whoever won, and he'd need all the information he could get.
Forgetting for the moment the entranced clone standing in front of him he focused the entirety of his attention on the fight at hand.
xXx
Hanabi struck out from her advance, her right palm strike directed at Konohamaru's sternum in an attempt to knock him off balance.
Konohamaru responded by moving his left arm inside the strike and pushing it outwards, away from his body.
Reacting in kind Hanabi attacked in quick succession, only this time with a left handed blow, her fingers directed at his shoulder this time, a slight blue haze shrouding them.
This time Konohamaru barely responded in time, losing good balancing form as he stepped back but slapping her arm across her body with his right hand. He knew what would happen if she struck him. Any single hit and he'd likely be put in a position where he'd lose the fight.
With her left arm swinging across her body and noticing that he'd taken a step back she grinned as she continued the movement of her arm and swung around, dropping low and extending a leg to capitalize on Konohamaru's weak stance.
He didn't have time to react to that.
His right leg was knocked straight out from under him and he soon found himself falling toward the ground, his left leg the only point of contact he had with the ground.
His eye having never left his opponent he saw the kick Hanabi was directing at him now that she'd recovered from the sweep.
In an attempt to salvage the situation he crossed the first two fingers of both hands in front of him and channeled the necessary chakra.
A puff of smoke appeared, and a clone now sat with its back to the earth directly beneath him its feet extended in a kangaroo kick that hit the original Konohamaru square in the back, stopping his descent and giving him enough momentum to right himself before it disappeared again in smoke, having take the kick that had been meant for him. He took a few steps out of the way to recover from the move as Hanabi came to the realization that she'd once again been duped.
"Don't think I'm not going to get you Kono-baka!" she said, frustrated that her maneuver hadn't paid off, "You're just postponing the inevitable."
Konohamaru just blinked, "The what?"
"Ughhh!" she groaned angrily before charging after him once more, her hands covered in a blue shroud of chakra.
"I-,"
She lashed out with her right hand in a jabbing finger strike that he only just managed to avoid.
"Will-,"
A follow up left-handed punch came only inches from striking the frantic Konohamaru.
"Not-,"
An open palm strike directed at his face was deflected with only centimeters to spare before she began opening up with all the fury she could manage.
"Lose-,"
The flurry of strikes continued, each one coming within centimeters of the young boy who had trained so heavily with Naruto in order to prevail in situations like these.
"To-,"
Strikes whistled by Konohamaru's head as Hanabi lashed out without restraint. But with each drastic movement he made he could feel the fatigue setting in. He had no idea how Hanabi could be keeping up with her attacks.
"An-,"
He was getting slower now and she knew it. Changing her angle of attack unexpectedly gave her enough of an opening to successfully strike him perfectly in the right leg, sending the limb completely numb.
"Idiot!" she finished her statement with a change of style as she jumped up and kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards and trying to regain his feet.
He managed to get his numb knee underneath him as he planted the other foot on the ground. As he looked down at where he found himself in the middle of the battleground he couldn't help but smile.
"Just surrender," Hanabi said with a smug grin, her chest heaving with exertion, "You can't win with only one leg, not against a Hyuuga,"
"You think you're so good with those eyes of yours," Konohamaru said with a grim smile, "Well come get a taste of true hard work and effort," he added before beckoning her closer with one arm.
"Fine," she said as she looked down at her hand and balled it into a fist before she sprinted from her position, "You asked for it,"
Konohamaru just continued to grin.
Naruto had always told him that if he was going to lose a spar, he might as well lose with a smile on his face and lessons learnt. He'd said he'd learned that the hard way always having to fight Jiraiya of the Sannin.
However, it was always better to never lose in the first place.
Reaching back down to the ground with his left hand he grabbed a handful of loose soil that made up the normally hard-packed battleground they were on and flung it toward his charging attacker.
His right hand came around at almost the same time and loosed the shuriken that he'd found when he'd been knocked down. Of all the places that the shuriken that Hanabi had thrown at his clone could have landed, he happened upon one when his chips were down.
Two hands then came together, their fingers extended in a cross formation.
Hanabi's white eyes went wide as she covered her eyes and turned her body to both prevent the impairment to her sight while avoiding the shuriken.
That wasn't enough to stop her from being tackled to the ground by a clone that could only use on of its legs. She was still moving forward when she was forced to defend herself and it was a simple matter for Konohamaru's clone to lean into her change and leap off the ground with his only working leg.
Being both heavier and stronger it was easy enough for him to overcome her momentum and force her to the ground.
The clone was quickly dispelled by a struggling Hanabi but was immediately replaced with the real deal; a Konohamaru that wasn't so easy to get rid of.
The young Hyuuga struggle beneath Konohamaru but he was simply too strong. Even with only the partial use of his leg he was capable of holding her down.
He had a triumphant look on his face as he looked down on her.
"I will not lose to you," was all she could muster in the face of what might be the end of her fight.
"Think again Hana-baka," he grinned, pulling his head back for a head-butt that he was sure would knock her out.
xXx
"Huh?" a dazed Konohamaru clone said as the genjutsu he'd been put under started to wear off, "I thought I'd won! Why can I see me still fighting Hanabi?"
Hano froze, looking to his right to see the clone no longer standing victorious but its attention solely focused on the fight in front of the both of them; having forgotten completely about Hano and standing within a foot from the boy.
"Ahh it's all good though, boss has got thi-,"
'POOF!'
The clone exploded in a cloud of smoke as Hano stabbed it in the side with a simple kunai, removing the threat that he should have eliminated earlier.
xXx
He'd won! But wait. He hadn't won, he was still fighting Hanabi. Konohamaru's mind tried desperately to comprehend the conflicting information that he was now receiving courtesy of his clones encounter with Hano.
His head raised in triumph as he looked to bring about the end of his fight with Hanabi, the girl struggling beneath his hold on her a look of confusion flashed across Konohamaru's face and the tension in his muscles in that moment.
She acted. It was the only chance she was going to get.
One final burst of strength was enough to get an arm free from beneath Konohamaru and her arms blurred with speed. She went to town on him, lashing out in his confused state before he could react, hitting each and every chakra point critical to his movement.
By the time she was done with him he was a groaning mess that she had to push off herself.
"Oh, man," he groaned as he tried desperately to move his limbs, "That is so not fair!"
"Oh shut up," Hanabi said matter-of-factly now that she was the victor, "You were always going to lose,"
"Neji," Naruto asked as he watched his student struggling to move on the ground, "Is Konohamaru going to be able to move at all by the end of the fight,"
A quick activation of Neji's Byakugan was enough to tell the Hyuuga everything he needed, "No, he will most likely be paralyzed for at least a few more hours, or until someone can unblock the chakra points,"
"You're never going to hear the end of this Dobe," Sasuke laughed as Naruto simply sighed, disappearing in a shun-shin.
"Yeah right I've still got this!" Konohamaru yelled as he felt himself being picked up off the ground. He couldn't turn his head to see who it was but he had a feeling it was Naruto, "Wait, what are you doing? I've still got this!" he tried to squirm free but his muscles refused to respond, "I can still fight."
"You fought well," Naruto said with a smile that Konohamaru couldn't see, "I mean we're never going to live this down, but you did great," a swirl of leaves later and Konohamaru found himself being deposited on the ground under the tree the others had been spectating from. Naruto crouched down and Neji joined him, quickly going through Konohamarus chakra points with his uninjured hand so that he could move.
The young boy groaned in pain as his body was effectively reactivated and the lingering ache of injured muscles, joints and chakra points plagued his mind.
Naruto looked at him with the proud smile of a teacher, "Now watch the rest of this fight, you might learn something," Konohamaru just huffed in frustration from his seated position.
He had to admit he was proud of the off-kilter style that Konohamaru had just used, using whatever he had at his disposal to come through; although he'd never tell him that. It did make him wonder whether Jiraiya was proud of him sometimes but never said anything, however that was another thought for another day. They still had the rest of the fight to watch.
Hanabi, starting to feel the fatigue of her fight with Konohamaru looked over to where the small lone blonde was watching her.
His face displayed no emotion but inside his mind was churning; he could feel the pressure building. He would show them all what he was made of, show them that you didn't need to be the heir of the Hokage or a daughter of the Hyuugas to be worth something.
Sakura always told him he was a great shinobi. And now he'd show everyone by beating an heiress of the Hyuuga.
'I will be victorious and Kono-baka and Hanabi-teme won't look down on me anymore!'
xXx
(Somewhere underneath Konoha)
"How is the research coming along?" Danzou inquired, his lead researcher standing before him.
"We have made progress in deciphering the secrets of the cursed seal. It helps when we have full access to their bodies you see. And the Kekkai Genkai, while unsure if we can replicate some of their abilities we have made some developments," the lean shinobi turned scientist replied as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, "although we may need test subjects in the near future."
"Yes, when we get to that stage we'll deal with that, there are any number of operatives that will volunteer themselves for the greater good. But good work. The more we can use against our enemies the safer Konoha will be." Danzou smirked as he continued on through the hidden underground base that he called his home to check on the status of the rest of his personal militia.
xXx
(One of the many forests of Hi no Kuni)
The woods of Hi no Kuni were quite lovely when you had the time to appreciate them. Beautiful evergreen trees that created a shady canopy and a lush forest-bed that was home to many different kinds of animals.
A particularly useful trait of the trees of Hi no Kuni was that their branches were for the most part perfect landing and launching pads for any shinobi in a hurry.
That was all Momochi Zabuza could think as he put one foot in front of the other. His legs shooting with pain and exhaustion each time he landed and sprung to the next tree.
He had to keep going, no matter how far behind the masked nin that were his foe were, he had to keep moving.
Hunter nin were relentless and if he stopped they wouldn't be starting again, ever.
No matter how heavy the weight on his back got he'd never drop Haku. He couldn't lose her.
Was it three days ago now? Three days since he'd dropped Kubikiribōchō so that he could keep up the pace of his flight while carrying his dearest Haku.
He had to be close now; he just had to hope that they'd help him. The young blonde that the nations were now abuzz with rumors about had once shown them mercy. Perhaps Konoha might do so once again.
He couldn't lose Haku, he wouldn't be responsible for her death, and with renewed vigor at the thought of such a travesty occurring he urged his body onward in a burst of speed, despite the cuts and bruises his body had suffered.
They just had to make it to Konoha; then their fate was in the hands of Kami.
So the lull between arcs is coming to a close! Hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to R&R (read and review :P)!
Also if you have any questions to ask in your reviews make sure you use an account, that way I can answer any queries that don't reveal plot and have a good ol' chat.
Also on a side note, for those of you wondering why there are certain factions with access to the hiraishin seal now I won't reveal why they have them but it is important. Not gonna reveal all the answers. If something has you confused in that regard I'm doing something right :P You'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Peace out! And until next time, which should hopefully not be nearly as long.