Yo! First and foremost I'd just like to apologize for the waits, it's been ages. I've had a kinda mad past few weeks with uni and exams n stuff. On the Brightside, I passed. On the downside I've almost no time for fanfiction. However it is summer now so im gonna try and upload a chapter for often.
"Shit."
A Naruto took in his current predicament couldn't help but feel worry and doubt build up in him. What was he to do now? Hadn't this been what he'd trained for? To protect those he cared about? Was it all for nothing? The young jinchuriki gazed into the fearful eyes of Tsukino. Seeing the emotion on her face despite the strange mask and the tear stains that marked her lower cheeks was all it took for Naruto's resolve to harden.
Naruto took a deep breath straightening up from his slouched position and closed his eyes, letting go of the wound to his back.
"Oh? What's this shinobi-kun? Finally given up?" Shinga jeered, a smirk resting grimly upon his face. Garnering no response from the young blond the rogue nin's smile slipped as he 'tsskt'ed' to himself despondently, "doesn't matter anyway." He muttered, before raising his hands into a single seal.
Almost immediately the markings on his upper face began pulsing as Tsukino started moving almost robotically at first before dashing off towards the static blond.
As the young village leader came within meters of the Uzumaki, his eyes shot open, the once calm oceanic cerulean now a cold electric blue. The kunoichi didn't flinch however continuing her path towards Naruto, her tanto outstretched in front of her aiming for his heart.
Suddenly a dark orange glow flashed through the clearing and the short sword was halted an inch away from Naruto's skin. There latched onto the girl's sword and hand was an orange spiked chain which seemed to have an ethereal glow, originating from behind the blond.
Before the kunoichi could react further, 8 more chains shot out from behind the Uzumaki wrapping themselves around Tsukino binding her legs and arms securely. Naruto raised a single hand shaping it into the half tiger seal.
"Uzumaki style: chains of the 9th enlightenment." He said evenly in a calm voice, forming his chakra and sending a pulse through the chains, "Seal!" The chains attached to Tsukino then broke off from the ones attached to Naruto leaving the girl bound as they seemed to tighten ever so slightly causing the kunoichi to fall over unceremoniously.
Shinga stared at the fallen girl in a mixture of shock and rage before looking back at the Konoha shinobi, his eyes widening at the sight.
There he stood, arms crossed across his chest, his face emotionless except for the slight frown adorning his brow, his now electric eyes seemingly alive. What was most striking about the teenaged boy however was the nine, orange spiked chakra chains, originated from the blond's lower back, whipping about as though having life of their own.
"Y-you… I know who you are," Shinga exclaimed having taken in the Konoha shinobi's appearance.
"And who might that be?" Naruto replied calmly, with the slightest tilt of his head.
"You're that kyuubi brat! I can't believe it!" The rouge nin then laughed, clutching his stomach, "To think the little no-good gaki survived after all these years!" He then wiped away imagine tears dramatically. Hakui, contrasting his master had no outward reaction to the revelation. "Looks like things just got interesting, wouldn't you say, Hakui-kun." Shinga stated, his face dropping the smirking façade almost as quickly as it came, adopting a cold look.
"Go." Shinga almost whispered, and with that Hakui nodded slightly before shooting off towards Naruto, kunai in hand.
Almost as if acting on their own will, Naruto's chakra chains shot towards the ex-ANBU engaging him. Hakui was prepared for the counter-assault however as he weaved closer to the young blond between the mass of chains.
Despite the nine chains barraging the rogue-nin, he still made his way to the Konoha shinobi, kunai raised aiming for Naruto's throat. Sighing in irritation, bent backwards avoiding Hakui's strike, then using the chakra chains as pseudo limbs he rolled backwards and sprung to his feet as Hakui re-arranged the kunai in his hand and dived forward with another slash.
Naruto, not having enough time to react used his chains to deflect the kunai as the missing-nin launched a series of attacks, forming a blur of arms and chakra.
Realising the exchange was getting him nowhere, Naruto jumped back running through a quick series of hand signs.
"Wing style: Great breakthrough!" The blond thought as he exhaled a large gust of wind from his mouth towards the missing-nin. Not having enough time to jump out of the way, Hakui was hit dead on by the gale launching him back into treeline.
"Your lap dog wasn't all that tough, huh?" Naruto smirked, allowing his chakra chains dissipate.
"Hmm, I wouldn't write off Hakui-kun so soon." Shinga replied casually, a small grin adorning his face. Naruto frowned at his lack worry, his mind working on the underlying message in the man's words.
Suddenly, the sound of metal slicing through air reached Naruto's ears before he ducked down instinctively, just as a kunai passed just where his head had been.
Regaining his composure, the blond looked up to see Hakui emerging from the treeline, clothes slightly tattered but otherwise unarmed. Upon closer inspection, Naruto noticed the rogue-nin's hair seemed slightly longer and shaggier having broken loose from its hair bands.
"I'm afraid you can't get rid of Hakui-kun that easy shinobi-san, although it does seem he had to resort to using his… special supplement." Shinga interjected, looking almost bored as Hakui resumed his place at the rogue-nin's side.
"Forgive me Shinga-sama, I took him for granted." Hakui intoned emotionlessly.
"Don't let it happen again." Shinga replied coldly.
As Naruto watched the two missing-nin converse he cursed silently to himself, noticing Hakui's sudden rise in chakra, "Where the hell did he get all that power from?" He thought to himself in irritation.
Before the young blond could ponder the situation further, Hakui appeared in front of him in a flash, hand raised behind him poised to strike. Thinking quickly Naruto hopped back narrowly dodging the missing-nin's slash, however he did however catch Naruto's attire producing five claw like tears in his shirt. Looking closely, Naruto noticed the elongated and sharpened claw-like nails now adorning Hakui's fingers, complimenting his more animalistic look, "Shit, those look dangerous." The jinchuriki thought to himself quickly before dodging another barrage of attacks from the ex-ANBU, "Although, his style is a lot more wild now, harder to predict but less accurate." He added mentally. He was brought out of his thoughts however by a shout from Hakui in a less composed and more guttural voice,
"Ninpou: hair strengthening jutsu!" he cried, as his hair expanded becoming almost like jiraiya's whilst using his hair Justus.
"What the fu…" Before Naruto could finish however he was struck head on by a large pinwheel of hair and sent flying across the clearing, "Ugh… what just hit me?" Raising shakily from his prone position.
Across, the clearing Naruto spotted what appeared to be a steamroller of spiked hair doing a full circle before coming back at the blond. Eyes widening at the speed Hakui was approaching, the young blond jumped to his feet and rolled to the side avoiding being crushed by the oncoming rogue-nin. As the, ex-ANBU turned around preparing for another attempt to crush the blond, Naruto's mind began to race with ways to counter the jutsu, "Shit, most my ninjutsu won't have any effect except maybe the rasengan, my kenjutsu is quite advanced enough to do anything, and I'm not sure my chakra chains can hold him down… Guess it's time to revert to old tactics." He concluded to himself, before raising his hands into his favourite seal.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto shouted, producing a couple dozen clones who dispersed and spread throughout the clearing, as Hakui rolled pass where Naruto once was.
Emerging from his ball-like state, Hakui surveyed the clearing noticing not all the Naruto clones where present in open view. Deciding to change tactics, the rogue-nin engaged the closest clones in taijutsu managing to dispel a couple in the process. Suddenly however he was blindsided, by two clones who threw simultaneous kicks to the man's stomach sending him flying back.
Managing to flip in the air, the missing-nin landed on his feet, only to be rocked back into the air by two powerful 'great breakthroughs' at the hands of two separate clones, costing them their lives as they erupted in clouds of smoke. Unable to gain his bearings, Hakui landed heavily on the rough terrain, wincing as he bounced along the ground. Standing shakily to his feet he reached into his back pocket where he pulled out a small sack and quickly emptied its contents into his mouth, swallowing painfully.
"Ah, so that's where your power boost came from!" Naruto exclaimed, seemingly the only one figure in the clearing apart from Shinga and Hakui, "Surely taking that many must have some pretty bad side effects though, am I right?" The blond continued amiably, a small smirk adorning his features.
"Yes, it is unfortunate that there are some… unwanted negative effects," Hakui replied carefully, causing Naruto's grin to widen before continuing, "you, however will not live long enough to see them." He finished with confidence as his muscles began pulsating violently.
With a surge of chakra, Hakui's pulsating muscles tore out of his clothing doubling his size, his normally lithe frame bulging with dense muscles. Hakui, now standing at around 6'4", he towered over a now wide eyed Naruto.
"Well fuc-" Naruto managed before diving to the side as Hakui flashed before him in a blur of speed. Regaining his bearings, he was once again forced to roll to the side to avoid another slash from the rogue-nin.
"Shit shit shit shit, this is isn't good," Naruto thought to himself frantically. He could use his chains however they were hard to control and he wasn't confident that they were strong enough to hold the raging ex-ANBU.
Doing a few back flips away from Hakui, Naruto attempted to calm himself with a deep breath, "guess I've got no choice then." He thought, taking into consideration Shinga still needed dealing with.
Closing his eyes, Naruto searched within himself until he felt the heart of that familiar fiery chakra. Opening his deep cerulean eyes he met a pair of slit, raging vermillion orbs found behind a row of towering pillars.
"What brings you here, human?" a deep, guttural voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"I… I came to ask you for your help." Naruto responded confidently, internally berating himself for the slight stutter.
"My help…" The kyuubi repeated, before breaking of into a fit of thundering laughter, "You wish for my help! Ah you pathetic being. What happened to that independent, 'I don't need you' attitude? huh brat?" the Bijuu asked between fits of laughter.
Naruto frowned, despite himself he'd expected this result. He knew it wouldn't be easy to convince the mighty fox, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
"I was wrong." He muttered quietly, though it carried through the chamber.
"What was that brat?" the kyuubi queried with a slight tilt of the head, the statement breaking it out of its laughter
"I was wrong." Naruto repeated a little louder this time, "I understand you don't like me, and to be honest I'm not wild about you." The fox grunted in agreement before allowing the blond to continue, "but, we're stuck together. And right now, I need your help, so…" the blond trailed off before locking eyes with the Biju.
"Kyuubi no Kitsune," He began, causing the fox to narrow his eyes slightly at his serious tone, "will you please help me, this one time. So I can protect someone I care for." Naruto finished, bowing his head slightly causing the kyuubi to widen his slightly
Silence. All an anxious Naruto was met with was silence. That is before a deep booming laughter reached his ears once more.
"You do amuse me mortal, raise your head before I lose what little respect i hve for you," The fox grinned, causing Naruto to meet his gaze, "I will lend you some of power, however only on this occasion, do not think that this will be a reoccurring theme. You still have a long way to go to earn the right to know my name." The fox boomed, a sinister grin with a slight hint of mischief adoring its face.
"Wait what? The kyuubi isn't your name? What's your na-" Naruto question before the Kyuubi cut him off.
"Now go, and don't disappoint me!" without warning, Naruto was flung from his mindscape. Opening his eyes, mind still reeling at the Kyuubi's cryptic words, he felt the familiar slight sting of the fiery chakra coursing through his system. However unlike before, he didn't feel the same level of bloodlust or pain that normally accompanied the chakra.
"Tch, you should be careful Hakui-kun, it appears the demon brat has tapped into the demons power, what a surprise" Shinga commented dryly.
Before Naruto could retort however a voice interrupted in his head.
"I've changed my mind brat, I want you to destroy these two. I do not take being called a demon lightly…" The kyuubi growled.
"Wait, you can talk to me like this now?" Naruto replied internally, crimson slit eyes still fixated on Hakui. The fox laughed shortly before speaking.
"Fool, I have always been able to, I just didn't want to."
"Heh, fair enough," Naruto thought, eyes narrowing as a smirk grew across his face, "besides, I don't like being called a demon either," Despite, not being able to see it, Naruto felt the kyuubi grin within his mind.
"Well then," The blond began stretching out his neck, "let's get started" with a blur of red, the blond shot of towards Hakui. Surprised by the sudden boost in speed, the ex-ANBU, simply raised both arms in order to block the punch from the jinchuriki, assuming it to be enough.
It wasn't.
In a show of strength and newly found chakra control, Naruto focused the kyuubi's chakra into his right hand, causing an ethereal red claw to take shape over it. Overwhelmed by the force of the punch. Hakui was thrown back, crashing through a set of trees with a sickening crack.
"Shinku no tsume…" Naruto muttered aloud, "That was for you, you bastard fox" he then thought to himself with a grin, eliciting a deep chuckle from within his mind.
Not giving Naruto time to pat himself on the back however, Hakui jumped back into the clearing, his sleeves completely torn and ugly bruises and burn marks adorning his forearms.
Breathing laboured, Hakui stared down the blond taking in his appearance with more caution. Overall his physique had changed quite a bit. He was a couple inches taller along with his muscles being slightly bigger, his whisker marks were more ragged and worn, his eyes were slit and a glowing crimson, his hair had slight red tinges at the tips and his fangs seemed elongated.
Frowning, Hakui realised his only option was to go all out, consequences be damned. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out the rest of his supplement and finished the small bag. At the side of the clearing, Shinga grinned evilly, knowing his minions intentions.
With another mighty surge of chakra, Hakui's muscles bulged once more, as well as his height increasing again, to a shocking 6'10".
Naruto watched the ordeal with barely concealed boredom.
Hakui turned, to face the blond, noticing the bored expression on his face, the rogue-nin became enraged.
Launching himself from his position, Hakui clasped both hands together and raised them above is head, intent on ending the blond. However at the last second the blond blurred out of sight. The ex-ANBU's attack caused a ripple across the ground as a small crater appeared the clearing.
Breathing heavily, Hakui surveyed his damage with a wild grin on his normally stoic face. The grin faltered however as a soft whistle reached his ears. Spinning on his heels, he spotted the familiar blond stood at the side of the crater, hands stuffed in his pockets, the thin veil of red chakra still surrounding the teen.
"Jeez that's a lot of power you've got there," He commented lightly, "however…"
Hakui's eyes widened as he blond disappeared from sight in a haze of red. Before he could wonder where the blond had got to however, a sharp pain sprouted from his chest. Looking down, a hand with sharp fingernails was forced through his chest, blood dripping off the end of the fingertips.
"… all that power means nothing if you're not fast enough" a voice whispered in his ear, eyes widening at each syllable. Slowly, the rogue-nin slid of the arm landing on the rough terrain with force.
Naruto looked down at the body. His burning eyes slowly showing the reality of his actions. Frowning, he knelt down next to the body and hovered his hand over the gaping dark red hole in the man's back. Sending a slither of the kyuubi's chakra into the wound, Naruto winced as the hole sizzled and began to fold over.
"What are you doing brat?" the kyuubi questioned within his mind.
"He may be my enemy, but… but no man deserves to die like this. I'm not a murderer, I am a shinobi." He replied mentally, as he stabilized the man sprawled out in front of him, just enough so that he wouldn't die.
"Aren't they the same thing?" the fox retorted, causing the blond to frown.
"No… they're not." He said with conviction.
"I'm impressed." Shinga's sly voice broke Naruto out of his stupor, "although I don't know why you kept that pathetic excuse of a ninja alive."
"That, right there is exactly why I kept him alive." Shinga tilted his head in confusion prompting Naruto to continue, "this man gave you his complete loyalty, he would follow you anywhere. Yet you treated him like trash, like he was just a pawn." The ex-ANBU laughed bitterly in response.
"You naïve fool." He began, "We are shinobi! We are all pawns in the grand scheme of things. Hakui was no different. Just a disposable tool."
"You're wrong! Shinobi are more than that! Shinobi are humans!" Naruto all but shouted, losing his temper as the red chakra around him started to boil and spit more violently.
"Ah I see. You have yet to taste loss," Shinga commented in a mock sage voice, as he gestured with his arms theatrically and sauntered behind the downed Tsukino, causing Naruto's eyes to widen dramatically, "In the face of pain even the strongest of us fall shinobi-kun, and its time for you to face pain!" Realising what the rogue-nin was attempted Naruto to rush forward. But not before the image of a kunai being thrust into Tsukino's back was etched into the Jinchuriki's mind.
And all he saw was red.
Naruto awoke with a start, his whole body screaming. Blinking he took in his surroundings. He appeared to be in a well-furnished bedroom, which was a pleasant difference to the usual scenery being white walls and the harsh smell of antiseptic. Propping himself up on his elbows, wincing in pain, he observed the bandages that covered his body. His whole body.
"Man I must've been beaten pretty bad" He thought aloud, in a harsh voice.
"You got that right brat!" Turning his head, Naruto spotted familiar face of the toad sage sat on the window ledge, "You really did a number on yourself."
"What happened" the blond questioned hesitantly trying to recall how he'd once again ended up fully bandaged and bedridden.
"Well, it seems your little skirmish with Shinga and his crew didn't go as smoothly as anticipated," the sage began, however Naruto wasn't really listening, instead he was trying to recall the battle, "It's my fault really, I shouldn't have sent you, you weren't ready. If I'd be-"
"Wait! Ero-jiji… where's Tsukino?" The blond shouted, causing Jiraiya's expression to falter, before becoming more solemn, eyes moving towards the ground, "No, ero-jiji, jiraiya-sensei please, she's not-"
"Come with me brat" The sage said simply, making his way to the door, prompting the blond to gingerly make his way out of bed and follow, his heart thundering in his chest.
Slowly, the pair made their way through a maze of hallways, and the blond was starting to lose his patience. The suspense was killing him.
Just as he was about to complain however, the toad sage stopped outside a large set of double doors, intricately decorated with carvings of the moon. With a gentle push, the door opened giving way to a large bedroom fit for royalty. Naruto's eyes however where fixated on the bed in the centre of the room, where sat a king sized bed. In the centre of the bed lay a pale Tsukino.
Not waiting another second, Naruto rushed forwards next to the girl, eyes scanning her body. With relief he noticed the seal like marking was no longer etched on her forehead.
With further relief, the young Uzumaki noted her chest was rising and falling, despite at a painfully slow rate.
"She's in a coma." Jiraiya's voice carried its way to Naruto's ears.
"A coma? But why? How?" He questioned in a small voice,
"The blood loss she suffered from caused her body to shut down, the wound itself will heal time but she… she may never wake." Jiraiya answered, his voice laced in sorrow, "I'm sorry kid, it's not your fault"
Naruto locked eyes with Jiraiya for a second before dragging them back to the prone Tsukino, "What happened to Shinga and Hakui?" he asked softly.
"Hakui was found barely alive and is now facing trial," the sage began before pausing.
"And Shinga?" Naruto again asked, worry creeping into is voice. Jiraiya's eyes hardened as he met Naruto's gaze.
"We didn't find a body, just bits and pieces." He said in a stern voice.
"You mean I…" The young blond started.
"Yeah brat, but don't worry about it. We all have our dark days."
"But, to do it like that, I didn't think I was capable…" Naruto's eyes now began to moisten.
"Like I said kid, we all of our dark days. However it's not our dark days that make us who we are, but how we overcome them." Naruto looked over to the man who he was beginning to see as a father figure. A sad, reminiscent smile on his face as he looked out the window, "You can overcome them kid, you're tough. Just like your mother." Naruto began sniffling holding back his tears as Jiraiya looked on with a fond smile, "I'll give you two some space," he added before exiting the room.
Looking over Tsukino's form, Naruto couldn't help the pang guilt rush through him. If only he had been stronger, faster, better. This always seemed to happen. Just when he thought he'd gotten stronger, strong enough. Something like this happens. Completely wiping his confidence.
Grasping Tsukino's hand gently in his own he smiled sadly, "I suppose I'm going to have to get stronger then, huh? Tsukino-chan." He spoke softly.
Giving the young leader's hand one last squeeze the young blond stood from his knelt position next to the bed. Reaching out, he place the hand gently on the girl's cheek, before leaning over her and kissing her lips softly.
"I'll be back when you wake up, Tsukino-chan, and I'm gonna be a whole lot stronger too," He grinned, "And remember, the pain stops eventually, you just have to wade your way through it."
With that he turned, and left the room. A fire in his eyes and his resolve hardened.
He was going to get stronger. A lot stronger.
Thanks for reading dudes and dudettes. Fave and review if you're feeling it