A/N: I somehow managed to update quickly despite being busier than usual. So anyways, this story's first flashback occurs in this chapter so I guess there's that to look forward towards. I'd like to thank naruto1246 for reviewing on the last chapter. You'll get a little glimpse of Hiiro's flame armour this chapter. Here's the chapter, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto. I can't really say much else to make a disclaimer more interesting.
Chapter 8: Clan War
Field in the Land of Fire:
Naruto stood facing Hiiro in her fire release armour before he asked, "Just who the hell are you?"
"I am a remnant of my clan just as you are. I am the only one left to avenge my clan and I intend to, starting with your death Uzumaki." Hiiro said with particular venom.
"Well what did the Leaf do to your clan, there must have been a misunderstanding or something." Naruto countered.
"Slaughtering almost my entire clan in the dead of night with the help of the Uzumaki is hardly a misunderstanding. I gave the civilian villages an equal chance as my clan had to survive." Hiiro replied.
Naruto's eyes widened, "What do you mean by the Uzumaki? Konoha would never do such a thing and neither would my clan! Also revenge is no reason to kill innocents!" he shouted.
"You really don't know anything about your clan do you? I guess I'll enlighten you so that you understand why I'm going to kill you." Hiiro said before beginning to tell her story from the start, thinking back to one of her earliest memories.
Flashback (A/N: NOOOO not a flashback!):
A 4 year-old Hiiro with long dark and light red hair sat in a small wooden house while playing with some toys, before another kid walked into the room. The other child was 9 years-old and wore his dark red and light red hair in a ponytail.
"Hiiro, mom said that it's time for bed, so tidy up your toys." the boy said.
"B-but nii-san just a few more minutes." Hiiro argued.
The older brother sighed, "Fine, but don't blame me if mom gets angry."
Hiiro ran up to her older brother and hugged him, "Thank you Yake nii-san."
The older brother rubbed the back of his head, "Eh, get off of me Hiiro and call me by my full name, Yakekoge." he announced clearly proud of his name.
Hiiro pouted before going back to playing with her toys while her brother stood idly by the door watching. A few minutes later the door opened and a woman with short dark red hair came into the room. She smacked Yakekoge on the head, before he exclaimed, "Ouch mom what was that for!"
The woman responded, "I thought I told you to put your sister to bed."
"Uhh, yeah, but it's not like she has to do anything the next day." Yakekoge answered.
"Mommy, why is our hair different than yours?" Hiiro asked her mom.
Yakekoge sighed, "Hiiro how many times do you ask this question?"
"I-I forgot!" Hiiro exclaimed.
Hiiro's mother bent down to Hiiro's eye level before beginning to speak, "You see Hiiro, your bright and lighter red hair is from your father, as he is from the Hono clan and it is a trademark characteristic for their clan members."
"What about your hair mommy?" Hiiro asked.
Her mother smiled softly, "My hair is a trait from my clan, although I am no longer part of it. Remember, my clan name cannot be mentioned around here, but remember what to do if you see someone else with my hair?"
Hiiro ducked down and put her hands on her head to imitate hiding.
Hiiro's mother smiled while patting her child's head, "Good girl, I'm glad you remember, it's really important that you hide."
Yakekoge frowned at this, knowing the truth behind the distinct hair colour, but he decided not to comment as his mother helped his younger sister tidy up her toys before bringing her to bed. Yakekoge took a seat at a table in the family kitchen awaiting his mother's return.
"Mother, why are we hiding from your clan?" he asked as his mother came back into the kitchen.
"Sweety, it's because the Hono have been at war with the Uzumaki for a really long time. I chose to leave the clan for your father, but one day I hope that we can have peace between the two clans." his mother explained, "After all I wouldn't ever want to have you fighting against them."
"Mom, have a little faith in me, I could easily beat them!" Yakekoge said while grinning and giving himself a thumbs-up.
"Baka!" his mom shouted while hitting him on the head, before covering her mouth at her outburst, "Go to sleep and don't wake up your sister."
Unbeknownst to both of them Hiiro stood behind the door to the kitchen and quietly muttered the name she had overheard in the conversation, "Uzumaki?"
End flashback:
"The Uzumaki and Hono clans became enemies during the third shinobi world war, as we both were known for our distinct clan abilities. The Uzumaki were especially known for their sealing jutsu which won many battles, in fact some of the major villages assumed that the Fourth Hokage's teleportation jutsu was of Uzumaki origin. The clan faked their village's destruction as they had too many enemies at the time, only with us their archenemies and the Leaf, their most important allies knowing of their existence." Hiiro explained.
"I don't understand, what caused all your hatred then?" Naruto asked.
"It all happened the day of the attack." Hiiro replied while clenching her fists in anger.
Flashback (A/N: Hiiro is telling Naruto what happened in this flashback):
A five-year old Hiiro patiently awaited her 10 year-old brother who was to arrive home from training. After hearing the door unlock she eagerly ran to it and hugged her brother her entered. "Yakekoge, you should see what I learned from sensei today!" Hiiro exclaimed.
"Sorry Hiiro, I'm kind of tired, Dad has been training me hard in preparation of the possible fight against the Uzumaki." Yakekoge blatantly said, not really paying attention to what he said.
"B-but, Mom is an Uzumaki, why would you want to fight her?" Hiiro asked.
Yakekoge instantly covered his mouth after realizing that he had said too much, "Listen Hiiro, remember what Mom said before, she is now part of the Hono clan, the Uzumaki are our enemy remember?"
Hiiro nodded before Yakekoge brought Hiiro to bed before he felt a shake. 'An earthquake?' he thought to himself, 'No, this is something else, but what.'
The door burst open and his mother burst in the door panting, "Yakekoge, go to get your sister and hide, we're being attacked!"
"By who!" Yakekoge asked while his mom slammed the door shut.
"Just go!" his mother responded before bracing the door shut.
Yakekoge quickly ran into Hiiro's bedroom and woke her up. "What is it Yake?" a sleepy Hiiro asked.
"I need you to hide Hiiro, OK?" Yakekoge asked before shutting the door to the room.
"What's wrong?" Hiiro asked before Yakekoge signalled for her to hide under the bed.
"We're being attacked." Yakekoge explained before hiding beside the doorway and blowing out the candle in the room while pulling out a kunai.
"I'm scared." Hiiro explained looking towards Yakekoge with tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll always protect you Hiiro." Yakekoge explained with determination in his eyes, before he pressed his head to the door to listen through it. He heard the front door slam open before he heard footsteps in the house.
"We've found her at last, let's bring her back to the village." one male voice explained.
"Ure-chan, what happened to you here, what did they do to you?" a female voice asked.
"This is my home now, I'm not going back with you." Yakekoge heard his mother explain before hearing a gasp.
"Unfortunately this is not your choice, as a member of Konoha's ANBU, I have strict orders to bring you back to Uzushiogakure." the male voice explained.
"And what if I refuse." Yakekoge's mother explained.
"Then we'll take you by force." the other voice explained before Yakekoge heard the sound of metal clashing against metal before hearing a thud.
Yakekoge rushed out of the room with a kunai in hand only to see a dead Konoha anbu member and his mother with a sword through a woman with dark red hair.
"I'm sorry." his mother said while tears streamed down her face while facing her friend.
"It's ok, I understand, we thought you were kidnapped, but I guess you came here because you love him." her friend explained before she collapsed forwards onto the sword before his mother pulled the sword out of the body.
"Mom, what just happened?" Yakekoge asked, his sister crawling out from under the bed to see if her mother was safe.
"Don't worry Yakekoge, just protect your sister." Hiiro's mother explained while smiling and facing towards her before her face turned into an expression of shock. She fell to the ground before landing face down, a kunai having pierced her back. Two ninja with Konoha headbands and flak jackets stood behind an ANBU member.
"There's been a change of plans, Root is now in charge of this operation, we are to eliminate all threats to the Leaf in this village." the lead ANBU explained before one of the two Konoha ninjas left to inform the other attackers. The ANBU then made his way to retrieve his kunai from Yakekoge's deceased mother while the other ninja noticed Yakekoge standing in the room.
"Hiiro get out of here!" Yakekoge shouted, while Hiiro froze on the spot staring in shock at her deceased mother.
The Konoha pulled out a kunai before charging Yakekoge who met the kunai with his own. Yakekoge held his kunai in a deadlock with a single hand before he began to form handsigns with the other hand before quickly igniting the Konoha ninja in flames before he could even react. The ANBU charged towards Yakekoge with a kunai in hand before engaging him in a kunai battle, while pushing him back. He quickly disarmed Yakekoge before grabbing him in a chokehold.
"Danzo-sama has at long last ordered the end of your accursed clan, so I guess rules the Yondaime applied to this mission are now off the table." the ANBU stated before raising a kunai to Yakekoge's neck. He began to bring down the kunai as Hiiro screamed, but the kunai never made contact. The ANBU fell to the ground with his throat slashed, a figure standing behind him.
"Tou-san?" Yakekoge asked while panting on the floor.
The man had bright red hair which was cut very short in an almost military style haircut. "Yakekoge, bring your sister outside of the village, I'll meet you out there with any other survivors I can find." he commanded in a deep-voice before leaving out the front door, only offering a passing glance at his wife's body.
"Yakekoge, what do we do?" Hiiro asked quietly.
"I'll protect you Hiiro, we're leaving this place." Yakekoge explained before letting a tear fall as he looked at his mother's body.
"Say goodbye to your mother Hiiro." Yakekoge said while he stood at the door.
Tears streamed down Hiiro's face as she hugged her mother's body before muttering a few words. She then proceeded to follow Yakekoge to the outskirts of the village.
Two years later:
A 7 year-old Hiiro stood alongside her now 12 year-old brother as they observed a map alongside thirteen other shinobi all with the distinct Hono clan hair. The leader of the group was pointing to different locations on the map of what appeared to be a city. After relaying instructions to each shinobi he then turned to Hiiro and her brother. "Yakekoge, I'm going to need you to support us as we attack from the front entrance. Defend us as we make our way into the city and make sure you don't let anyone approach from behind and seal us. Don't let us down." he explained.
"I won't father." Yakekoge replied before tying a red bandana over his face and equipping some anbu style armour over his body.
"Hiiro, I need you to watch the village's entrance for reinforcements, if you see anyone coming, notify Yakekoge with a fire style jutsu then wait for him to arrive before you deal with them." Hiiro's father explained.
"I won't fail tou-san." Hiiro replied.
"Now that everyone knows their tasks, we shall begin the attack. We have waited two years in preparation, now we finally enact our revenge, this is the end of Uzushiogakure and the Uzuamaki." Hiiro's father explained, "Let's go."
Two Hours Later:
Hiiro stood on a hill alert observing the path leading to the Uzushiogakure, trying to concentrate over the sound of explosions and fighting. She turned to look at the unhinged gate to the village to see her older brother running towards her.
"Yakekoge what is going on? Why are you out here?" she shouted while her brother approached.
"Hiiro we need to get out of here quickly!" Yakekoge shouted before grabbing Hiiro and throwing her on his shoulders.
"Why? What about tou-san!" she shouted.
"He's performing a really powerful jutsu using our bloodline, he told me to get you as far away as possible or else we'll die. He wants us to live on and keep the clan alive." Yakekoge explained.
"Is he going to-" Hiiro asked while looking back towards the village.
Yakekoge's lack of a response was enough for Hiiro to understand as tears began to pour down her face. She struggled to keep them in and wiped the existing tears away before she saw a massive transparent golden dome rise in the center of the village. The dome was created with massive golden chains and had a sealing matrix passing between each chain-link. Hiiro gasped at the sheer size and complexity of it causing Yakekoge to pause and look behind him to observe the same seal. 'That can't be good, a seal that strong prevents anything from getting out of it, I guess father lost, I'm doubting attacks powered by our bloodline could even get out of it.' Yakekoge thought to himself before setting Yakekoge down, both of them a significant distance from the village, with only the large scale sealing jutsu and the village walls being visible.
Hiiro then pointed towards the village, "Yakekoge look!", she shouted.
Yakekoge narrowed his eyes at a small flame in the middle of the massive sealing jutsu before the land darkened significantly despite the sun being in the sky. Hiiro then asked her brother, "What is going on Yakekoge?"
"I really don't know Hiiro." Yakekoge replied.
The area around them had significantly darkened almost as if there was cloud cover over them, before they notice that the area where the small flame was was glowing radiantly as if all the sunlight that had been dispersed over the area had been focussed in a single point. The two children then observed a massive explosion of fire from within the sealing jutsu, its brightness almost being blinding, but the flames were held within the sealing jutsu. Yakekoge held his sister protectively as he prepared for the aftershock of the explosion, but he could never have predicted what happened. He felt an immense heat, almost at the point where it could have killed him, which passed through him and also affected Hiiro. Immediately after he felt the rumble from the explosion before he turned to face the village where he observed the massive sealing jutsu almost instantly fall apart.
Yakekoge then fell to the ground panting for air as he tried to recover from the extreme heat burst, Hiiro doing the same before they both collapsed. 'Whatever jutsu that was must have wiped out everyone, I don't think that there will be any survivors.' he thought before losing consciousness beside his sister.
The two of them explored the village the next day only to witness a mostly intact village apart from some building being damaged in the attack, but they found corpses littered all across the village, most of them without any marks even on their body, but Yakekoge knew that the heat alone would have instantly killed them. The two approached the center of what was once the thriving Uzushiogakure only to witness a scorched crater in the center and the area littered with ashes and scorched bodies. Yakekoge decided that his sister had seen enough and set off with her to begin a new life.
End flashback
Naruto's eyes widened at hearing the tale of the destruction of his clan's village, before shouting, "Your clan destroyed my clan in the end, why the hell are you still seeking revenge! In fact, you are part Uzumaki, how can you even think like this!"
"Don't you dare lump me in with those murderers, my mother was part of our clan, she renounced her Uzumaki name, I am purely from the Hono clan." Hiiro replied.
"You just don't understand do you?" Hiiro continued, "Your clan and the Leaf killed my family and massacred my village, eventually even my brother was killed too. Konoha was left unpunished for what they did and you're damned clan continues to live scattered throughout the nations. I will never be finished seeking revenge until my clan has one this war and I'll be one step closer after I kill you."
"I'll just beat some sense into you then! Revenge never gets you anywhere." Naruto shouted, while thinking about the dark path Sasuke took while he was fixated on revenge.
"I'm done wasting my time talking to you, just give up alongside your clan and face the fate that they deserve!" Hiiro shouted, before pulling out her tanto and holding it outwards towards Naruto.
Naruto shifted slightly to prepare for the attack before narrowly dodging a tanto strike aimed for his stomach by bending his body outwards and away from the tanto. 'She's fast.' Naruto thought before landing, 'That fire style armour makes her almost as fast as the Raikage.'
Hiiro then sheathed her tanto, deciding that she would be a greater advantage facing Naruto with flame enhanced taijutsu. She quickly closed the distance between her and Naruto before sending a quick flurry of punches towards him. Naruto attempted to dodge most of them, only getting slight burns from being so close to the flames, but he was forced to block one attack, burning his arm and pushing him back a few feet.
'Damn, not only does the armour make her faster, but it makes her stronger and her attacks burn. I can't let her get too close.' Naruto thought before accessing some of Son's chakra again and calling out "Lava Style: Scorching Stream Rock Jutsu!" and sending a stream of lava rocks towards Hiiro.
Hiiro dashed towards Naruto avoiding the first few magma rocks before she elbowed one of them, destroying it while remaining unscathed and proceeding through the opening she had created. She closed the distance between her and Naruto only face a rapidly expanding rasengan that Naruto was pushing towards her. "Senpou: Oodama Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as the rasengan approached Hiiro.
Hiiro quickly evaded the technique before reappearing behind Naruto and kicking him forwards alongside his rasengan which collapsed and exploded sending him tumbling across the ground before he picked himself up. 'I can barely keep up with her without my bijuu cloak, I probably have to use it soon.' Naruto thought as he dodged Hiiro who began another barrage of attacks forcing Naruto backwards towards the tree line and away from the crater Shogai had previously created. As Naruto retreated he formed his hand into a familiar hand sign before creating two clones and catching a punch that Hiiro had thrown and holding onto her fist as the two clones punched her in the stomach sending her flying backwards. The two clones and the original Naruto all suffered some burns, the clones dispelling due to having a bit less durability and chakra than Naruto's normal clones.
Shogai made his way out of the crater he had created and began walking away from the fight which was ensuing between Naruto and Hiiro. He reached the edge of the crater and limped towards Hinata who was trying to pick herself up after being caught in the collateral of his attack. "I always knew that the quiet ones are a pain." he said while approaching Hinata with a slight limp.
Hinata picked herself up before shouting, "Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!" and sending a blast of air towards Shogai who lifted up his shield to easily block the attack. Shogai quickly closed the distance between the two of them despite his injured leg and grabbed Hinata by the throat and lifted her up with his free hand.
"You sure are a persistent aren't you?" Shogai said while slowly adding pressure to his grip while Hinata tried to pull of his hand. She then proceeded to block off a few chakra points in his arm causing him to loosen his grip slightly before tightening it again and slowly squeezing the life out of her. "Hmph, I guess your attack wasn't good enough was it. I'm doubting your pink-haired teammate is coming back from that attack, so I guess you're the only one left before I go and kill your blond haired friend." Shogai said while choking Hinata.
'Sakura-san, Naruto-kun, I'm sorry I failed you both.' Hinata thought as darkness began to slowly encompass her sight, before she gave one last effort to escape from Shogai's grip, but to no avail.
Naruto summoned several clones who were engaging Hiiro in close quarters combat, but were having little success compared to her speed and fire armour. However, they still managed to get in a few punches here and there, leaving Hiiro bruised as she defeated the last clone. A now slightly chakra-exhausted Naruto charged towards the weakened Hiiro before he stumbled and was kicked backwards into a tree.
Konoha Training Grounds:
Sasuke paused his training yet again upon sensing the strange chakra he had sensed before again, before it vanished. He sighed, preparing to go investigate the location, before he sensed Naruto's life force dwindle slightly through the connection between the two of them as a result of the abilities gained from the Sage of Six Paths. 'Hn, the Dobe can't do anything by himself can he?' Sasuke thought while scoffing before leaving the training ground while being followed by ANBU.
Field in the Land of Fire:
Naruto struggled to push himself of the tree as Hiiro pulled her tanto from her back before pointing it towards Naruto. "I guess this is the end Uzumaki, not only did you fail your friends, but you guaranteed their deaths alongside your villages destruction." Hiiro said before funneling chakra into her tanto, "However, their deaths are justified, as is yours."
Naruto then pushed himself from the tree before shakily standing up, "Let me tell you bastards something." Naruto said.
Hiiro had no intention of letting Naruto finish his little speech so she through the tanto at incredible speeds towards Naruto's heart.
Naruto then lifted his finger before a small trail of yellow chakra trailed off it. He then enveloped himself in his Sage of Six Path's Bijuu cloak quickly deflecting the tanto with a gudo-dama before he charged Hiiro and formed a rasengan in hand. "I won't let anyone ever hurt my friends!" Naruto shouted pushing his rasengan forward.
Hiiro attempted to dodge the attack, but still was hit in the side sending her flying into the crater that Shogai had previously created. "And no one EVER," Naruto started while forming a rasengan before he quickly dashed to Shogai's location before appearing in front of him. "EVER hurts my girlfriend!" he shouted before smashing the rasengan into Shogai's stomach sending him flying back into the crater causing him to drop Hinata. Naruto quickly caught Hinata bridal style before she hit the ground.
"Naruto-kun." Hinata mumbled while coarsely breathing due to having her esophagus damaged.
"Don't worry Hinata, it's alright, just rest for now." he said while he gently placed her on the ground while resting her head against him. He then formed a hand sign before a shadow clone popped into existence.
"Bring her to Sakura quickly, I'll deal with these two." Naruto ordered, his clone nodding before gently picking up Hinata before quickly dashing away to Sakura's location. Naruto then proceeded to walk to the crater with a serious look, glaring down at his two opponents who stood side-by-side.
Shogai loosened his now damaged armour before dropping it to the ground, leaving him in a black undershirt, the armour crashing into the ground due to its heavy weight. "He's pretty damn fast now isn't he, uhhh-" Shogai stated.
"It's Hiiro." Hiiro stated while flaring her chakra armour slightly in preparation of the upcoming fight.
"Alright Hiiro, you can explain all this Yakekoge crap to me later, but we're taking down this kid now." Shogai said, with Hiiro nodding in acknowledgment.
"Try all you want, but I'm not going to go easy on the two of you." Naruto said while forming two short staves from his gudo-dama.
A/N: Alright that's the end of this chapter. This was a pretty flashback heavy chapter, but it revealed some important information and also revealed a sneak peek at how powerful Hiiro's clan was. Let me know what you thought of the chapter(and Hiiro/Yakekoge's little back story) with a review. Thanks for reading!