Journey of the Three Failures Chapter 11: New Assignment, a naruto fanfic

J3F\\\ Journey of the Three Failures

Chapter Eleven

I SURVIVED SUMMER CAMP!!! OH YEAH!!!

Yeah… Several-week camp for student athletes to stay in shape over summer. It wasn't easy, but I made it! Now it's time to enjoy the rest of summer! (Wait… I really should get started on that summer reading… Hm…)

;) Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or alerted! Thanks Rena-san, Omega the Darkness, The Laughing Phoenix, chibi heishi, Creshto, SaphireShade, Naybi, Cybergades, fried ryce, KyuubiReborn, stinkyhead, Zack-kun, FantomoDrako, Monte-chan, nitti770, Stygian Styx, EvilAngel767, and Kokuryu for all your reviews!

Hm… I'm surprised no one commented last chapter on Hinata's stance. If you were really paying attention or visualizing, you might have noticed something odd about it. Whether you caught it or not, it'll be explained this chapter so no worries!

As you can see I didn't change my pen name… It's like on the one hand, the new one I thought of is so cool! And on the other, I've been Hinata0321 for so long, and Katara0321 before that… meh, whatever!

My sister gave me my first driving lesson the other day! She was all, "Give it some gas… gas… a little more…" and I was so freaking out going like 5 mph in an empty parking lot… Anywho!

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. The abridged series is a… Wait, what?

XD I don't own NARUTO!

Journey of the Three Failures

Eleven: New Assignment

Part One: Prison Break

Lee リー

"Get ready to move, Hinata-san."

"Hai!"

With a roaring battle cry, Jirobo slammed his fist into the ground to send out a violent wave of earth-cracking force that threw a cloud of dust into the air.

"Watch it, fatso! There's a XXXXXXX underground prison nearby, remember?!" the girl, Tayuya, shouted.

Our current foe looked around as the dust cleared. "Where'd they go?"

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!" I yelled, descending from a great height to drive my foot into the back of his head. He would likely have fallen over, but the moment after my hit landed Hinata dashed in, rolling nimbly onto her hands to launch a heavy kick into his stomach. He gagged and staggered backwards a few steps, but was too sturdy to fall so quickly.

I landed next to Hinata as she rose to full height in stance.

"Strike fast and hard!"

"Right!"

Jirobo's eyes grew as the two of us quite possibly all but vanished to them. My fist crashed into his face; Hinata's palm thudded into his back. Then we moved and struck again. The man locked his hands behind his head in defense as we continued bombarding him with attacks, racing around him rapidly and unpredictably; I moved freely in the lead, and Hinata, with the Byakugan, avoided running into me and struck somewhere else each time I attacked.

"Stupid … brats – GAH! Stop … it!!" our foe yelled angrily, eyes shut as he withstood it.

"Oh man, this is embarrassing!" Kidomaru laughed.

"What the XXXX are you doing, fatXXX?! You're getting the XXXX kicked out of you!!"

"Hurry up and get serious, or you won't last much longer!" Sakon advised.

I drove a fist straight into his gut, leaning forward as I did so. I felt small hands on my shoulders, and then feet on my upper back, and after the brief crouch Hinata sprang upward to slam a fist into the young man's jaw.

That should do it.

He staggered back, shaky but staying on his feet.

What?! "Hinata!" I said as she landed beside me. I jumped forward into a Konoha Sempuu, and the slightly dazed man raised his arms to block high.

He gasped as I sailed over his head – and by the time he noticed the girl lunging toward him I was certain he was too late.

Put all your strength behind this palm…!

THWACK!

An angry swing of a heavy arm – and the back of Jirobo's fist met Hinata's shocked face.

I saw Kurogiba leap aside holding Gamakichi by the toad's dark cape – a moment before Hinata went shooting into the treeline, raising a long trail of dust through the forest.

…Kuso.

I punched hard into the center of his back, and then near instantly appeared at the front. I struck … and my fist was engulfed by a strong hand.

He pulled on my hand and rammed his knee into my stomach; the force sent a small spurt of crimson from my mouth. Gaping in shock, I felt a heavy palm drop onto my back, and I smacked into the ground.

Wheezing, I began to curl up on my side. The sound of breaking rock came from nearby, and by the time my eyes focused Jirobo was standing in front of me. Strange black markings were spreading across his body. And above his head he held a massive boulder.

"What's the matter? Too skinny to take a hit?" he taunted. He prepared to slam the boulder down.

I cannot move in t-time…! I raised my arms in front of my face instinctively, as if it could save me, and tightly shut my eyes.

…

I did not feel a thing. Had I died that suddenly?

"What … the heck?" I heard Jirobo whisper.

Hesitantly I opened my eyes and gasped.

"Hinata-san…" I breathed.

The girl was standing over me in a crouch, her hair black, her skin white, and her hands upraised to hold off the boulder Jirobo was trying to push down.

"What's the matter?" she growled lowly. "Maybe you didn't strike at full strength because I'm a girl? How chivalrous."

That thing … must be ten times her size…

"Grr… Stupid brat! Why can't … I crush her?!"

Hinata grunted, a fourth black ring encircling her wrist as her knees and elbows bent further, and the rock soon rested on her shoulders. The ground crackled at her feet. She trembled in effort, her breathing labored, and I started as I heard muscles tearing and bones popping. She is pushing her limits!

"Lee-kun!" she screeched.

"Right!" I got up and placed my hands on the boulder behind her, and together we shoved it forward. Jirobo was forced off his feet, and cried out in pain as the stone landed on top of him.

"Hinata-san!" I ducked under her arm, catching it around my shoulders before she fell. "Are you all right?"

After gasping a moment, she looked to me. She tensed as malice suddenly flashed into her eyes, but panic rapidly overtook it before she jumped away from me as if burned. She swore sharply, hands covering her nose until she got two of the four rings to disappear, and I understood: I was bleeding.

"Never better," she said shakily, looking back to our foes. Jirobo, trembling on the ground, slowly began to sit up. The other three, now carrying a degree of uneasiness about them, were talking.

"…Well," Sakon mused, "It's no surprise that they're both individually faster than Jirobo, but combined they're plenty stronger, too."

"Hey, it's not just me, right? Is anyone else finding those features a little familiar?" Kidomaru asked, glaring Hinata's way.

Tayuya nodded. "The same seal as that XXXXXX Neji…"

Hinata was surprised. "What do you know about my cousin?"

"Cousin, huh?" Sakon sneered. Similarly to Jirobo, black markings began to slide over the others' skin in various patterns. "Sorry, but as much as we'd love to chat about Lord Orochimaru's new favorite pet…"

"I'd say it's about time we joined in on this game," Kidomaru finished with a smirk. "We can't exactly have Jirobo dying on us, after all."

I frowned. From two on one for us to two on four against us. This is not good…

Naruto ナルト

My hand froze, leaving the key only inches from the door. It was too simple; my instincts smelled something fishy about now. Moving aside, I handed the key over to a shadow clone that appeared. The replication inserted the key into the lock – and amid yelping and jerking away involuntarily burst into smoke. The key clattered to the ground.

"Hm…" I leaned forward, examining the door's lock as well as I could without touching it. In the dim lighting I could barely make out odd black symbols decorating the lock – seals, I realized. The door was rigged. Good thing I checked…

I picked up the key, turning it over in my hand; a tiny collection of seals had been etched down its length. I remembered, just minutes ago, wondering why a fraction of the guards had strange tattoo-looking marks on their hands… This was more Hinata's area of expertise, but I had a hunch that the unlocking of the cell required three parts – the seals on the lock, the key, and the hand. If one tried to pick the lock, it probably wouldn't open, and if the wrong person (say, an unwitting intruder) tried to use a stolen key, they'd be knocked out by a reaction between it and the lock. How tricky…

I sent a new shadow clone down the hall to fetch the last guard I'd knocked out. While I was waiting, I looked back toward the door. My sensei of one month was on the other side of it…

I raised my hand, recalling from academy days the lessons in a communication code using sounds and struggling to remember a certain phrase. My fist knocked on the door.

'I am … a friend… Are you hurt…?'

I waited, but no reply came. Shoot. Who knows what I just said? I should've studied more–

'I am … uninjured … no … chakra.'

I listened carefully. That made sense then, they had him on chakra suppressants or something. I snapped back to attention as more taps came from the other side of the wall. Rather than use common words or phrases, he used the alphabet.

'Tsu…na…de…?'

Why did that sound so familiar? Anyways, it had been a question, so I replied back.

'No … E…ro…se…n…ni…n.'

There was silence. Then a flurry of taps so sloppy with haste I could barely make it out.

'Na…ru…to…?…!'

Hinata ヒナタ

He's only trying to stall! I thought, glaring down the spider-like Sound ninja. He's just keeping me busy … while the other three…

My gaze drifted over his shoulder to the battle taking place near the lake. Lee was barely holding his own through dodging alone; outnumbered, he was left little chance to attack. More importantly, however, while Lee was still holding his own I needed to use the opportunity to take Kidomaru down while we were one-on-one – to tip the battle two-on-three before they could turn it one-on-four.

"I'd pay attention if I were you, Hyuuga-hime!" he called tauntingly. "I'm your opponent now!"

I need to defeat him, fast… He's not taking me seriously, and that can be an advantage…

"What is it? Not going to say anything, Hyuuga-hime?" he laughed as I knelt and slipped a hand under each pants leg to retrieve two sets of weights. A hint of curiosity surfaced on his face as I rose to full height, holding my arms out to my sides. There was no time to spare.

My hands opened, the restraints fell to the ground, and two plumes of smoke burst upward higher than I was tall.

Kidomaru raised an eyebrow, whistling. "Interesting… but you know, I noticed something when I caught you in my web earlier. By releasing chakra from tenketsu all over your body, you were able to cut the threads; Neji could do the same thing. Funny thing though, you weren't able to cut all of them."

Shoot! I thought. He'd caught on that quickly?

"There's something wrong with that arm of yours, isn't there? That why you've got it all bandaged up?"

I growled. He'd avoided close combat, likely wary of the Jūken or poor at taijutsu himself. However, it would be easy to close the distance between us now… "This makes me no weaker than Neji. Besides, what does a small weakness matter if I'm too fast for you to exploit it?!" I shouted, preparing to attack. I lunged forward – only to be halted by a strong backwards jerk on my right arm. The sharp force spun me around; it was then that I noticed a fine thread around my forearm, leading to a tree that had been behind me and draped around the trunk to more than likely trail back past me to Kidomaru. Of course I didn't know for sure … because I was currently facing away from him.

"Kuso!" My left hand darted to the thread.

"What does your speed matter if I've already exploited it?!"

The thread snapped, and a sharp blow impacted my back. Gasping, I hit the ground. A foot nudged my side roughly, and a smug laugh reached my ears.

"You know, none of us four could top Neji; he was too much for us. Lucky for us though, you're not quite as gifted as your cousin, are you?"

…Did he not realize I was fully conscious? He thinks that blow stunned me.

"You're not even worth playing w–!" He swore in surprise as I sprang toward him.

His fist shot into my face, forcibly turning my head aside. And then I turned it right back around, growling as I thrust a palm to his chest before my fist smashed into his face.

The unexpected hit sent him bouncing and rolling fifteen yards, where he was stopped by a tree that shuddered at the impact. Leaving him good and dazed, I turned my head.

"Lee-kun!"

Lee リー

Something is not right here…

I yelped, barely managing to stop the grey-haired shinobi's fist. Then I glimpsed another arm springing from the one I had just blocked – and two sharp impacts at my face and stomach sent me reeling.

What sort of genjutsu is this?!

I hurriedly crossed my arms as he punched again, successfully catching two impacts while a third caught me painfully in the ribs. Wincing, I leaned away to dodge the following swing in vain. Just as his fist passed harmlessly in front of my face, a brutal force slammed against my cheek; I spun on heel and staggered away, fighting to regain my stance.

It had to be that flute music! Somehow without affecting her comrades, the girl was casting some form of sound-based illusion that was dulling my focus and reaction speed. That much I could tell. However, whether the extra appendages that sprang from Sakon's limbs were part of the genjutsu or not, I could not even be sure. I was so weakened that the man was merely playing with me at this point; Jirobo stood near Tayuya, ready to protect her to prevent her tune from being interrupted.

Spitting the blood that was pooling in my mouth, I raised my arms in a defensive stance.

"Getting tired?" Sakon jeered. Suddenly he was very near and attacking.

"Unh!" I dodged, shunting his arm aside as he lunged in with a punch. As he passed me he turned his head to smirk.

Another arm exploded from his shoulder. Pain crashed into my head, and my sight vanished for a moment.

"Multiple fists barrage!!"

I was helpless as I felt three sharp blows at my abdomen, followed blindingly by three more. Bending over in pain, I saw a foot swinging up toward my face and swiftly blocked it. A foot morphed out of the shin to shoot upward. Force slammed into my jaw; I saw stars.

My back hit the ground, and I lied stunned.

"That was too easy," a voice swam in my ears. "Shame – after the way they dominated Jirobo, I was looking forward to a bit of a challenge. Maybe we should have gone a little easier on him… Eh?"

My teeth gritted together as I began to stand. At steady intervals a drop of blood dripped off my chin, pooling on the ground before me. "I am not finished; not even close. For myself … for Hinata-san and Naruto-kun … for the entire Hidden Leaf Village… Fighting for them, I REFUSE to be defeated!!!"

"Take a good look at yourself," Sakon said, sneering. "You won't last."

Tayuya's numbing tune in effect once more, he suddenly attacked. I blocked the strike, and he jumped away again. What…?

"Lee-kun!"

A blur of different things took place in the next moment. Sakon's hair whipped in a breeze as a figure shot past him from behind; four deep lines were gouged into his upper arm, sending blood flying from the wounds. As he was crying out, a bloody hand on my chest forcefully shoved me back. And a boulder flew in to smash against Hinata's side.

Black-and-white eyes widened, losing their focus on me as her mouth burst open to streak a splash of black blood through the air as she flew. The rock shook the earth as it landed, and a moment later she too hit the ground, rolled several yards, and lied unmoving.

"Hinata!!"

Two figures flickered to where their leader writhed on the ground in pain. "XXXX, Sakon! Are you okay?!"

"She c-cut t-to – the bone!" he yowled, holding his arm. His eyes were wide and furious as he slowly got up. "Kuso – lousy piece of garbage! She's going to pay…!"

"You don't have to worry about that, I think she already did. She took the hit for her buddy, and I don't think she's getting up."

Took the hit … for me…

"Uh-oh!" Tayuya laughed. "Watch out, fatso, I think you made him angry!"

My teeth were grinding; I took a deep breath. Calm down. Just have faith in her, and focus on the battle at hand. You already know for a fact that Hinata-san could not be killed that easily.

But still…

I removed not only my leg weights, but a set of arm weights as well.

"Gomen," I said coolly. "I am afraid it is time to wrap this up before things get out of hand."

I swung my arms, throwing the four sets of weights so that they arced high in the air and would land in the space between us. For at least a brief moment, all three of the Oto-nin glanced up toward them – but their eyes darted straight back to me as I drew the katana in an instant, crossing them before me with a sharp, ringing clang of steel.

Their eyes held mine.

The weights drifted to the ground.

I bent my knees.

BOOM!!!

A moment later I was standing in the same place but facing the opposite direction in a low crouch, swords outstretched behind me as my feet slid a few inches through the dirt.

I looked over my shoulder as the dust cloud leaped outward, dispersing as explosively as it had appeared to reveal the three again. I met their eyes, picking up the briefly broken contact.

A drop of blood fell from the tip of a sword.

"Blade of Infinity."

Before it hit the ground, three screams pierced the air as crimson spilled at once from dozens of places across their bodies.

"The wounds are not fatal," I said calmly. "Please, surrender."

"K-kuso–!"

I was standing behind them. Tayuya's flute was in three pieces by the time it reached her lips. She swore again, fearfully this time.

"Back to back!" Sakon cried, and they formed a triangle and waited tensely.

I took off sprinting around them, circling from two yards away with a sword in the ground to raise a ring of dust. Then I dashed in and circled quickly around them twice more before shooting away, skidding to a halt with one blade upraised and the other low – and another few dozen cuts appeared.

Bellowing an angry cry, Jirobo ran toward me while my back was still to them. He swung a fist; I spun aside as he struck, allowing him to pass me before running a blade shallowly from his hip to shoulder and then planting a forceful kick on his back.

I spotted a kunai leaving Sakon's hand, but it was several yards off target – I sprinted to intercept it, slashing it in two well before it could reach Hinata where she lay motionless. The pale man flinched as I met his eyes, and I turned to sprint again.

"AGH!!"

"The next will be a vital point," I growled in warning, pulling the katana from his abdomen. Grunting, he fell to his knees.

"P-please!" he said, eyes wide in terror. "I'm sorry! L-let's – let's talk this over–!"

"Do you surrender, then?"

He bowed his head. "Yes! Yes! Please, just spare our l-lives…!"

My face softened. The katana slid back into their sheaths.

Perhaps I was mistaken, but a small chuckle seemed to enter the air. I frowned, looking at his bowed head. Something was wrong…

Had he not had two heads earlier?

"Game over."

I gasped as two arms hooked under my own from behind.

What?!

"Rock Lee, I'd like you to meet my brother, Ukon," Sakon said, smirking as he stood. I was taken aback; he looked completely different, now with reddish skin and sporting one horn and long, demonic fangs.

"It looks like I came at the right time, brother. What a pitiful show you were putting on," the one behind me, Ukon, said.

Sakon growled – and his fist made painful contact with my face. "I ought to punch you instead. Like you could have done any better." He swung with his other hand, and I fell to the ground as I was released. I would feign unconsciousness for the moment; his blows had been stronger than before, meaning they would have little trouble believing I had fainted.

"What – no gratitude after I came out to save us? I'm hurt, brother. Still, it's hard to believe a little brat actually managed to push us this far…"

I sprang up, nailing Ukon in the jaw with a sharp punch before turning to lash a kick across Sakon's face with force that sufficed to send him sailing a good few yards. Then I turned on Jirobo, who had begun walking toward us while I was down.

I still have the upper hand in speed!

I drew back a fist, and just as I was prepared to put it in his stomach a rain of flute music danced into the air. I was frozen in my tracks, paralyzed by the tune.

I destroyed that flute! I thought, teeth grinding as my eyes shifted to Tayuya. She had changed as well; her skin was dark, and white horns protruded past her hair. Was it because of this transformation that the genjutsu was stronger?

"I see you repaired your flute in record time," Jirobo remarked, and I saw that he too had changed. My eyes widened as he now prepared to strike while I was unable to move. He drove his fist into my stomach, an uppercut that raised me well off the ground and knocked the wind from my lungs; before I landed another tremendous punch crashed into the side of my face, sending me bouncing away until I was stopped by a foot at my back.

What … happened…? I thought, trembling as my mind danced on the verge of unconsciousness. They are – so much s-stronger than before… The tune ended, but still I was unable to move. A claw-tipped hand clutched my arm, and Sakon dragged me up and set me lightly on my feet. He reached over my shoulder and slid a katana from its sheath, and I was too weak to do a thing. No…

He raised the sword up, smiling maliciously. "Well, little punk? Not so tough anymore, are–?!"

She came from behind – blazing in on all fours and leaping toward him from five yards back with a terrible, ferocious growl, onyx claws spread wide to slash.

My heart soared.

Sakon began to turn his head.

Hinata–!

There was a breeze at my left ear.

Sakon winced as a cut appeared on his cheek.

SHLUGK!!

The sound of tearing flesh.

I blinked … and my jaw fell.

The feral rage on Hinata's face gave way to shock as black blood hit the ground.

The world creaked to a halt, hanging torturously motionless to stretch the horrific scene out into one I would all the more surely never be able to forget. My blood froze over as she was suspended a moment in the air, drifting backwards from the force. I screamed something. The projectile blasted its way through distant trees behind her, vanishing from sight. Surprise painted her features and widened her eyes to their limits, the effects of the curse fading as too much dark blood erupted from the mouth. More than anything else, however, my eyes were glued to the hole that had been punched through her stomach.

Then she crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, and a blaze of terror stabbed through my veins.

"NO!!!" I screamed, running to her. My knees met the ground at her side. My heart was hammering out of my chest. "Hinata-san – Hinata, say something!!" I tried not to look at the wound or the blood. It was not easy. Crimson was beginning to spread along the ground from her body. Her mouth was leaking a steady trail of it.

Even gasping raggedly, shallowly, and wincing in pain, she managed a weak smile as she shakily turned her head to look toward me. Her eyes were unfocused as she spoke.

"S-sor…ry…" she breathed, her voice a ghost's breath on the air. "You're on … y-your own … Lee…k…" A gurgling noise rose up in her throat. Her eyes left me as her head fell to the side, a splash of crimson spattering the dirt by her mouth as she shuddered … and fell still.

I shook my head numbly. "No…"

Naruto – no. Naruto did bruises, scratches, and minor burns. Something like this was…

So in short, even if she was not gone yet, she would be in a matter of minutes. Maybe less.

Why … why are you … apologizing…? I am the one … who let this happen…

It was hard to breathe. A shaking hand moved to cup her cheek but faltered, merely brushing with fingers the cold skin of her weary face. She looked almost exactly as she did that day after training … she just … was not … snoring…

Such a kind, youthful flower … so soon after blooming … must be made to wither away…?

Very slowly I stood on bones made of rubber, swaying slightly for a moment. I turned my head and then my body, one leg at a time, until I faced him. I took three loose, wobbly steps forward.

He looked different, but it was him.

That one. Kidomaru.

He did it.

"SIXTH GATE – OPEEEEEEEENNN!!!"

Naruto ナルト

"The tattoo that he had a minute ago … disappeared?" I mumbled to myself. My brow furrowed as I examined the unconscious guard's hand, now devoid of any markings. I knew what I'd seen earlier; this guy had definitely been among the fraction with the markings on their hands. How could he have gotten the pattern to fade?

"Chakra," I whispered as it struck me. The chakra flow slowed in sleep or unconsciousness. The seals must've reacted to chakra, made to vanish should his chakra flow decrease if, say, he was knocked out by an intruder.

There's no time for this! I thought, placing my palms on his arm. I channeled chakra into my hands, pumping the energy into him. He grunted in his sleep, and the pattern of seals burst into existence, flying to coat his hand.

A shadow clone popped up next to me. While I continued letting my chakra flow into his arm, the clone took the man's hand and folded his fingers around the key. Holding his hand, the bunshin got him to insert the key into the lock.

I nearly jumped when the black markings on the lock, the key, and the man's hand suddenly glowed green. A similar green glow crawled along the outline of the door, creeping outward along the wall to form an intricate design of hundreds of seals. Once it had spread a foot from the door, the light grew blinding … and vanished.

…What?!

"Aw, come on!" I cried quietly, banging a hand on the door.

I hadn't expected it to fall open, so I toppled into the cell with a clumsy cry of surprise.

"N… Naruto…?"

I looked up at the hoarse voice, and my eyes widened as they fell on the aged sannin's disbelieving face.

"Ero-sennin!" I gasped.

"Wh… How did you…?" The man was baffled; he blinked weary but shocked eyes as I hurried toward him. "I don't understand…"

I inspected the chain that linked a metal ring on his ankle to the wall. "Me and my friends are busting you out of here. What's there not to get?" Loading a kunai with chakra, I slammed it against the chain to snap it between the blade and the ground. "Hey, what are these metal things?" I asked, noticing three more rings on his wrists and other ankle. There were no chains on them, so what were they there for?

"Chakra restraints," he said. "They slow the flow of chakra almost to nothing, permitting just enough circulation to keep me alive – hey!" he said as I swung a chakra-filled knife toward his wrist. The kunai fell to pieces on contact with the ring, and a sharp, electrical jolt was sent through my hand.

"Ouch!" I cried, dropping what remained of the knife.

"That's not going to work! These things can't be destroyed that easily."

"Okay, then, we'll worry about those later. Can you run?" I asked.

He got to his feet with a grunt. "Yeah, I think so…"

"Good. Just stay close to me," I said, taking his hand. "Trust me. We'll be out of here in no time."

He looked at me a long moment. "…What's happened to you?" he seemed to wonder aloud.

"If you mean my eye color, I'm not totally sure…"

"It's not just the eyes."

I smirked. "I don't know what you mean, then. We'll have plenty of time to talk about whatever it is once we get back to the surface, won't we?"

He nodded. "Right."

"Let's go," I said, running from the cell with him close behind. We went down the empty hallway, and when we reached the end of it I turned right.

"Argh!"

Jiraiya's hand left mine, and I turned to see him stumble back as if he'd run smack into a wall.

"What's wrong?" I asked, walking back to him.

"A barrier," he said, lying his hand on the invisible wall. Where he touched, energy sparked to life to stop his hand from passing.

"How come I got through it just fine?" I asked, holding out my arm. It passed easily thought the wall of energy even as he struggled against it.

Suddenly forced away, he clutched a hand at his chest, a little beneath the center of his collarbone. "It's … th-this seal," he said after a moment of panting. He pulled down the neck of his plain, grey shirt, revealing a kanji that glowed the same angry red as the barrier.

I swore, examining the walls at the sides of the barrier. Markings I hadn't noticed before lined them from floor to ceiling, emanating a soft glow. "Kuso!" I swore again. "They sure don't want you going anywhere!" I knew there hadn't been any marks like these in the abandoned prison; we'd had the time to inspect that one inside-out. I spat on my hand and tried to rub some seals off, but they didn't even smudge. "How do you get rid of these?"

"More than likely, there's one person who can remove them. I'd also bet money it's the strongest Oto-nin in this prison…"

"You'd bet well."

I turned quickly to spot the blue-haired, calm-voiced Sound captain standing down the hall near the cell, pretty close to where he'd been sitting the first time I saw him. He sighed, a gentle smile still on his face.

"How unseemly of me. It would appear I've allowed you to deceive me, little ghost."

Okay, this was not looking good. Time to bluff.

"I'm glad you're here!" I called. "Listen up! You have five seconds to dispel this barrier before I annihilate you!"

He raised a slender brow. "Oh? But I'm not sure you could."

"What are you saying?" Jiraiya hissed behind me. "This fellow is high ANBU level. At full strength it might even take me some effort to finish him."

I ground my teeth. "Yeah, so what?"

"It's over. Make a run for it–,"

"No way am I doing that!"

"What do you think you can do?"

"I don't know – but I'm not about to fail here without finding out!" I cried, drawing back a fist. The guard's cool gaze became analytical as he watched.

Shadow Strike!

His arms were suddenly crossed and well positioned. The clone flickered in and out of existence, its punch blocked.

"Interesting use of kage bunshin!" he remarked cheerfully as I stared on in surprise. To figure me out that fast…

He's good. Teeth clenching, I struck again. He dodged or blocked each clone's strike as I continued to pummel the air in front of me. Suddenly he produced a kunai.

I cried out in pain, hands clutching my chest.

"I thought so. Linking your movements this way makes you more susceptible to the copies' pain, doesn't it?"

Kuso! He's already onto my weakness too!

"So what will you do now?" he asked, his smile turning wicked. "This battle is over."

I grunted and punched again. I poorly suppressed a cry as the replication's throat was slit, and I attacked again.

It's not real pain!

"Even if you're not physically wounded…"

A stab in the hand. A smashed nose.

"The pain feels as if real…"

A boot in the stomach. A shattered jaw.

"Meaning that – against an opponent like me, who can read you like a book…"

A slash across the middle. A knife between the eyes.

"You'll only defeat yourself."

I fell to the ground. Whimpering and gasping weakly, I curled into a trembling ball. No way… I couldn't hit him … even once…

"Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled.

"He's done," the Oto-nin declared smugly.

"…Idiot," I spat, pushing to my feet. "A l-little imaginary pain can't stop me… As long as I'm able to move, I'll never back down!" I shouted, running toward him.

"No, you fool! You'll be killed!"

Uma-Tatsu-Tori-Saru-Inu-Hitsuji!

I leapt toward the man.

Wind Style: Air Bullet!

He hopped back to dodge the missile aimed for his feet – failing to notice the clone that had appeared behind him before I released. The kage bunshin fired straight for his head. Eyes widening, he shifted to the side.

The air bullet crashed into my face, knocking me away. I hit the ground hard and tumbled until my back hit something that was softer than rock and something else slipped under both of my arms.

The old man shook me gently. "Gaki, are you okay?!"

More than one trail of wetness was drizzling down my face. Ow… I got me pretty good just now… I groaned, blinking groggily.

"Snap out of it! You've got to escape, while I hold him off!"

"I can't let that happen."

My vision cleared up a little, and I noticed the Oto taichou guy was weaving a lot of hand seals. When he finished he slammed his palms onto the ground. And a towering block of earth exploded toward us.

There was movement, and then we were shooting backwards. We halted sharply, and though I heard the impact I hardly felt it. I blinked.

"Ero-sennin…?"

The man was on one knee, his back at the wall; his other knee and both hands pressed against the wall of stone. I was draped across his lap; he'd protected me from getting crushed.

He's this strong … even without his chakra?!

"N-Naruto!" he forced through clenched teeth, his face reddening in effort as he glared at the stone. "Get out of here…! You can't h-handle this guy!"

"I've got to try! I leave with you or not at all–!"

"What good'll come of getting yourself killed?!" he shot back. "Run, while you c-can…"

My teeth ground. Curse it all. "Old man…"

"One sannin … won't be enough to st-stop Orochimaru either way… Listen to me," he said evenly. "I assign you this S-ranked mission… Locate Tsunade, the kunoichi of the Legendary Sannin…"

I gasped. My mind fluttered back to another prison, a half completed kanji chipped into the floor … the first few strokes of the first character of that name. The legendary medical ninja, and the author of the longest book I'd ever read through.

"Find Tsunade, and come back for me!"

I crawled off his lap, backing onto the hallway and standing. My teeth clenched and unclenched before I nodded determinedly.

"Yes, sir!"

Then I turned and ran. I left him behind without looking back, the pain of failure stinging in my eyes.

Lee リー

What was this? This feeling inside my numb body… What…?

When I saw him I understood. Adrenaline … and rage. So much of it that for a moment I had not been able to comprehend. So much of it that the Gates had burst open in mere moments. And I understood one thing above all else.

Kidomaru would die.

He was prepared to loose an arrow my way when he stopped, lowering his bow. He scanned left and right uneasily.

"Behind you..."

Kidomaru whirled into my striking fist, losing several teeth in the process. Running on pure rage, I brought my fists to his flesh at least ten times more before launching him into the air with a solid kick.

The katana rang as they were crossed sharply. I crouched and sprang upward, battering him furiously with Infinity's Blade as I passed.

His howl of agony reached my ears as I halted high in the air above him at the peak of my leap. I felt no pity, no remorse as I turned to face him, glaring down at the terror in his eyes. I spun the katana in my hands, clutching both hilts firmly as my arms crossed my body.

No… I was certain that if I killed this man, I would feel nothing.

Tears streaming from my eyes, I roared in fury as I swept my arms out, releasing the blades.

Three eyes growing impossibly wide, Kidomaru's ascent was frozen as two swords plunged to hilt into his stomach and abdomen.

My Thunder Bolt Kick crashed down between them. Such was the sudden force with which my foot met his body that the katana slid out, hanging still and in place as he was forced downward. I snatched them from the air as we bolted to the ground. The earth roared as it crackled violently around him, I sweeping my arms out in a low crouch to sharply whip crimson from the blades.

Then, in a burst of smoke, I found a log lying in several pieces beneath my foot. But there had been much blood on my blades, so he had done it at some point after that part.

I turned my head, quickly spotting him near the trees in a pitiful state, barely on his feet.

There you are…

"Wait! Please, I'm s-sorry!!"

"'Sorry?' YOU ARE SORRY?!!"

Sorry did not cut it. Not even close.

I shot toward him, and he spat a net of silk webbing.

Sorry would not bring my friend back.

I sliced cleanly through it and planted a foot on his chest. He went crashing far through the trees.

"Kidomaru!!"

I turned, fixing my gaze on another. I sprinted, blurred through a powerful series of steps, and drove a kick into his gut to send him sailing.

"Jirobo–!"

Next I was there, leaping, kicking. I landed in a crouch, and Sakon slammed into stone behind the waterfall.

Ukon shut his eyes as I aimed a heel for his head.

Then a note of flute music blasted harshly in my ears. My already weakening chakra flow was disrupted a moment – which proved enough for the six gates to reclose. Suddenly I realized how much pain I was in, and I crashed gracelessly to the ground.

After slowly opening, Ukon's eyes fell on me… and narrowed venomously.

Oh, no…! I tried to get to my feet and failed sorely. I inched back, attempting uselessly to get away as the young man approached at a calm walk with malice in his eyes, his hand creeping slowly toward me.

"Little punk!"

SLSSH!

Ukon shuddered as if struck, streaks of red flying from his shoulder. His demonic transformation fading, the wide-eyed Oto-nin collapsed before me, whimpering in pain. Then did I see the five ugly slashes running parallel across his back.

My eyes drifted upward to take in the one who had attacked him from behind, and I felt as though I had taken a rather hard Shadow Punch in the stomach.

Not… possible…

Hunched slightly and breathing in shallow gasps, she stood with dripping black claws raised from a backhand swing, a dusty dullness clouding narrowed eyes.

"Hinata…" I breathed.

"Lee…kun…?" she murmured with a glint of recognition in her eyes, slowly as if she were having trouble speaking. Her hand fell, and she took a few shaky steps toward me. "A-are you … okay…?"

I blinked. Was I…?! "Hinata-s-san, you – how – a vital point–?!"

"Healing," she grunted simply. "I'm … f-fine–" A cough sent inky blood from her mouth, streaking it down her front. I gasped; against her black clothes I had not noticed before … but her front was soaked.

I rose up with enough effort. "Y-you cannot fight, let me handle it–!"

"Attack, Jirobo, hurry! Look at 'em, they're practically dead on their feet!"

"Right!" he yelled, charging toward us.

My knees popped, and my muscles blazed but were frozen stiff. I – cannot move!

Jirobo slammed a fist down, cracking the earth. I was surprised, however, to be viewing this from ten yards away.

"So you can still move pretty fast, huh?" he said, glaring.

Hinata slowly got to her feet; she had rammed into me, getting us both to safety.

"Kuso…" At this my eyes moved to the hand resting over her middle, in time to see the blood that spurted past it.

"H-Hinata-san, do not move! I can…!" When I looked up to her face it was not pain that I saw, but a confused mixture of excitement and fear. Her wide eyes stared ahead as she trembled steadily; she seemed unsure of whether to scowl or smile as the corners of her mouth attempted to twitch upward. Bits of darkness that would form a fourth ring on her neck spread and shrank again as she warred against herself.

"Go back," she whispered to herself, "No, g-go back…"

"Let's see you dodge this!" Jirobo bellowed.

"Wait, no–!" I cried, but was too late.

A ferocious snarl tore angrily from Hinata's throat. The fourth ring blazed onto her flesh, and a mist of darkness enveloped her as she sprang forward.

Startled, the man punched blindly in front of him. She flowed over the strike, left hand clapping onto his forearm and right hand latching onto the shoulder. Recently dull eyes grew bright, sharpening almost violently – with pain, I realized as the black glow of her right hand rapidly, recklessly intensified. An improbable flash of dark, and Jirobo shouted out as he was pushed back by the blast of chakra. Hinata backflipped away to land on all fours, a smile framing sharp teeth as she let loose a chuckling growl that sent a chill trickling down my spine.

Hinata ヒナタ

Though instinct and my nose told me that they were much alike, some vibrant strand of the humanity that remained maintained firmly that they were different.

Humans didn't register as food. Good.

Painting the ground in the wondrous crimson beauty of their blood, bathing the air thick in its rich, intoxicating aroma… That was still tempting.

Extremely so.

Not good.

But I didn't exactly care at the moment.

Lee リー

Jirobo fell to his knees, clutching his shoulder in pain. Hinata prepared to attack again.

Is she going for the kill?!

"Hey!" Tayuya spat, and Hinata's claws crumbled a stone aimed for her head. Glowering, she rounded on the Oto kunoichi ten yards away. Hinata circled to the side, and Tayuya did the same, keeping her distance from the girl.

"Come on, little XXXXX. Wanna play?"

The moment Hinata pounced, Tayuya's flute was at her lips. I slapped my hands over my ears, but Hinata was frozen in place in front of the older girl.

"Hinata!" I called when Tayuya lowered her flute after a few moments. "Snap out of it!"

"She can't hear or see you anymore – not after hearing the melody of death," Tayuya said, smirking victoriously. "She's trapped in my genjutsu by now; it's over. But you know, this flute is actually the only weapon I carry on me…" She reached into Hinata's kunai pouch, and I ran toward them.

"No–!"

THOP!

In a sudden movement Hinata had grabbed a fistful of Tayuya's shirt and jerked a knee into her stomach.

"Just kidding…" Hinata said darkly.

"Wh… How?"

"It looks like that tune of yours was made for human ears…"

"Then just what… are…?" Changing back to normal, Tayuya slumped to the ground with a grunt and lied unconscious.

Was … was it over? Of course Jirobo was still conscious, but he had reverted to his original form and looked just as exhausted as either of us; I doubted he planned to attack now.

An arm folded across herself, Hinata walked past (perhaps upwind of?) the fallen Tayuya. She moved as if her legs were leaden and walking on thick mud; each step was filled with tremendous effort. She halted a moment, eyes wide as a brief shudder shook her body. Eyes growing wild, her mouth opened to bare fangs as she began to look back toward our foes – then tore her gaze away, teeth latching sharply onto her own hand. She took a few more swaying steps away and sank to her knees.

I realized it was partially my fault: the Blade of Infinity technique had all of them bleeding lightly. Now it was taking all her willpower not to… I started toward her. "Hinata-san, are you okay–?"

"Stop! Don't come near!!" she barked harshly in a razor-edged voice. I was stopped in my tracks as she glowered my way. I flinched as I saw that even looking at me, bloodlust gleamed bright in her eyes. But something else, beneath the malice...

"Y... You are injured–!"

"Just stay back!! It took everything I have not to cut those two down… I'm not in complete control. I can't tell what I'll do!"

That look … like a wounded animal…?

I took one step toward her, and then more.

"No, don't!!" she screamed, trying to back away. "I might–!"

I knelt and embraced her gently. "Have more faith in yourself; I know without question that Hyuuga Hinata would not harm a friend."

"L-Lee-kun…"

"Come on," I went on encouragingly, patting her back. "The battle is over; you are safe now. You can come back, Hinata-san."

Her arms hesitantly wrapped around me. Her head rested on my shoulder, and after a few moments I saw her hair return to its normal midnight blue.

I pulled away, and Hinata smiled weakly. "I wish you wouldn't have risked it … but thanks."

"It was nothing," I said, lightly ruffling her hair to earn a small giggle. "G-good to see you are yourself again."

"Lee-kun, are you crying?"

"No, of c-course not!" I lied, finding myself overcome with emotion. This gift of power comes from a curse, after all. A great deal of compensation must be paid in return… Naruto-kun was right. It hurts to see that pained confusion on her face – that bloodlust in her eyes, bloodlust she must fight constantly…

"Thank you… You saved me, again."

She shook her head. "They were worn out thanks to you. All I did was clean up, really…"

Jirobo had observed the interaction silently; I turned to him as he spoke. "So … you're not going to…?"

"Finish you all off?" I supplied.

He nodded awkwardly.

"Do you believe we should?" I asked, a hand clasping the hilt of a katana.

He shook his head left and right very quickly.

My hand fell. "Then I see no reason to," I said honestly, and Hinata nodded in agreement, looking to the ground. "We prefer not to kill needlessly."

"Who exactly … are you?" he muttered, probably not asking for an answer.

"Just a few missing-nin..." I answered, looking around.

Eyeing us even more oddly, he nodded.

"Byakugan – uhn!" Hinata's kekkei genkai vanished a moment after it activated, but when she turned to me her eyes were wide. "Lee-kun, we're–!"

"Freeze!"

Almost a dozen Oto-nin reinforcements appeared around us, forming a circle with a fifteen-yard radius. Hinata and I were quickly on our feet and back-to-back.

"Surrounded," she muttered.

"Sir, the others need help!" Jirobo said. "Kidomaru, Sakon, and Ukon–!"

"It's probably your own faults! For the four of you to be bested by two kids – you were messing around again, weren't you?!"

"We underestimated them, we're sorry! But they need help!"

"Hinata-san, did you see Naruto-kun?" I whispered.

"…I did, and I think he's almost out. But…"

"But…?" That did not sound good.

"Stop that whispering!" one of the shinobi shouted. "You're outnumbered and surrounded. If you enjoy living then you won't move, understand?"

Hinata-san and I have already reached our limits. She is wounded, and I can barely move. What now? What do we do now?

The man who had spoken before swept out an arm. "Detain them–!"

"HEY!"

That voice! All eyes turned to fall on the speaker. High above ground from a grand leap, he formed the cross handseal. An angry fierceness was on his face.

"Super-crazy-freakin'-awesome-distraction-tastic-diversion jutsu!!!"

Hundreds of kage bunshin briefly speckled the sky with orange and blue until transforming all at once – then hundreds of random objects were falling from the sky.

"The heck?!!" an Oto-nin cried, dodging a falling umbrella and a giant paintbrush.

"Wait!" I said, a signpost landing nearby. "What happened to him? Did he transform as well?"

The apparent leader of the Oto reinforcements flung shuriken into a door, a vase, and a sapling above, dispelling them in bursts of smoke. "Get the brats! They'll try to escape in the chaos!" he shouted.

A nearby Sound kunoichi leapt toward me – and shrieked in surprise as a cardboard box, wooden chair, giant sandal, and pillow lying on the ground between us burst into their true forms and jumped her.

"Lee-kun, I think we're supposed to run now–!"

A five foot tall stick of fish cake landed on end next to us. It popped into a cloud of smoke from which two arms shot out to grab either of us by the backs of our shirts; shoving us apart from our back-to-back positioning, Naruto lunged from the cloud to pass between us.

"I'm going to have to drag you a bit," he muttered calmly.

Eh? I thought as I suddenly found myself being pulled backwards, heels sliding against the ground.

"Shadow Step Jutsu."

And we were somewhere else – a different location in the crowd of transformed replications. I blinked, and we were further, now a good distance from the confusion. A step later, a nearby, bright orange blanket I kept my eyes on was thirty yards away. At each of his steps we jumped further, and each time I only barely spotted a distant, midstride Naruto clone before it vanished behind us. In perhaps twenty "steps" we were at a riverside in the forest, the waterfall, the lake, the Oto-nin, and the distraction no longer anywhere to be seen.

Amazing, I thought when Naruto lied us down. He himself promptly fell to his knees, panting for breath.

"I'm … sorry…" he gasped out. "I … failed."

I sat up, and beside me Hinata did as well. Head down, the boy did not face us; his hands clasped angrily at the dirt before his knees.

That battle … was practically for nothing… I shook my head. It did not matter – we had all tried. "It is fine," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We can always try again, another time. What matters most is that we are all safe."

He turned around, his face glum. "Guys, I…" His face became white as a sheet. I followed his eyes to Hinata's injury; he must have just noticed it. Before she could say a thing he moved to her side and looked behind her, and if possible he paled further.

He swore. "When – why haven't you said anything?!" he cried, not realizing he was a tad on the late side.

"I'm fine, Naruto-kun," she said uneasily, but her voice was slightly weak. She looked away. "It looks bad, but the wound's nearly gone."

"How…?" he began, staring in shock.

"It appears that Hinata-san's self-healing capabilities are … fairly powerful," I said. "Even so, you ought to lie down. You look ready to pass out, and have lost a large amount of blood." She did not look good; her face was ashen, and on closer inspection I noted the dullness had returned to her eyes. Why did she keep quiet about such things? She could not have been feeling well.

"Okay," she said, "but first we should move deeper into the forest. We're not safe out in the open here."

She stood up – and fell down. Naruto rose and caught her gently; the girl was limp in his arms.

"She's breathing," he said. "You were right about her being ready to pass out; I guess she got up too fast… Anyways, she's right. Let's hide in the forest for now."

Naruto ナルト

"There you are!"

We'd been settled for all of a minute when Kurogiba trotted into the clearing, Gamakichi seated atop his head. He dropped two backpacks whose straps he'd held in his mouth.

"Get off now, frog," he said, tossing him to the ground.

"That's toad to you, ya' mangy mutt!"

"Yeah, whatever," he snorted, walking toward us. "You brats are lucky I decided to cart your bags all the way here–,"

Lee reached across himself, his hand clapping onto a sword hilt. I heard the sound of metal sliding swiftly from the sheath, and the next moment the wolf had moved to catch the blade mid-swing with his mouth. Lee yelped as Kurogiba yanked the katana away, sharply tearing it from his grasp and throwing it to the ground.

"You got a problem, brat?" he growled darkly, bristling as he rounded on the boy.

"Lee…?" I asked. What was he doing, attacking him all of a sudden? Not like I adored the dumb dog either, but sheesh…

Fuming quietly, he glared back at him. "Normally I would not strike at an animal, but you are not ordinary wolf, and if I did then I normally would never pull a blade on one – however, if I were to punch you I would burn my hand!" Though he didn't draw it, his hand rested threateningly on the hilt of the other blade. My hand quickly covered his.

"Come on, Lee, calm down–!"

"I will NOT calm down! It is thanks to him that Hinata-san was so badly injured!"

"What?"

"It's not my fault she was hit!"

"All the same, you could have prevented it and chose not to," Lee said. "Kidomaru was in your line of sight when he fired, but you did nothing more than watch when you could have easily called out, shown her your sight, anything!!"

"I told her I wouldn't help no matter what happened, didn't I? I meant it!"

"Just as well," Lee shot back coldly, "one who finds himself too important to help, who is able to stand by and watch the near-death of a comrade and student without batting an eye – is sooner an enemy than a friend. The way I see it, such a one is not to be trusted."

My placating hand fell from Lee's, freeing him to draw the blade should he wish to. "After hearing that … I have to say I agree," I said, eyes narrowed.

Lee nodded. "You heard him," he said, voice dangerous. "Get away from us. You are not welcome."

"L-Lee-kun … please don't talk to him that way…"

"You are awake!"

"You don't have to stand up for him, Hinata," I said, looking toward her. She was still lying down, her face pale, weariness clouding her half-open, lavender eyes. "There's no reason to, not after he let this happen."

"Isn't there?" she said softly, and a kind smile formed on her lips as she looked past us to the wolf. "It's funny … After I was hit by that arrow, I nearly passed out … but then, the strangest thing happened. A gentle voice seemed to brush my mind to nudge me awake and remind me to heal… And s-suddenly it seemed my chakra was working, almost of its own accord, to heal me…"

Kurogiba cast a look her way. "I don't know what you're suggesting, but you fixed that wound all on your own. You must've begun to imagine things because of the pain."

"Hai, Kurogiba-sama," Hinata said, still smiling softly. "You're probably right."

He glowered a moment and turned away. "There was no reason for me to help. It's not like you would have died that easily anyway."

'There was no reason to help…' Was he justifying why he didn't… or wondering why he did? Lee seemed to make up his mind, at least, and his hand fell from the sword hilt.

The wolf, noticing our lack of hostility and angered at what it meant, threw us one more glare and vanished in a burst of flame.

Neji ネジ

Just two more days…

Why – why was this happening? Why had no one tried to save me? Why was Sasuke playing dumb?

–"Tell them!! Tell them what happens to me on the full moon!"

"I have no idea what he's talking about; this must be some sort of desperate ploy he's thrown together in hopes of escape."–

Perhaps it was his idea of payback. I obviously wanted to be released rather than slash and kill my way out of the underground base – was he looking forward to seeing me suffer afterward?

–"P-please! Just bring me the pill. In my room in the Hyuuga compound, on a nightstand–,"

"What is it, some kind of trap? How gullible do you think we are?"–

It had proven no use. He clearly didn't care how many lives were lost meaninglessly…

I heard the door slam open, as if it had been kicked to break the lock – so whoever had entered wasn't supposed to be here. My heart quickened, whether in hope or fear, I wasn't sure. I now heard the slow, deliberate steps of someone crossing the room, nearing the chair I was in.

The gag was ripped from my mouth.

"Who are y–?!!"

It was stuffed in again, and I felt a sharp backhand sting my cheek. A serious voice hissed in my ear.

"Hyuuga. Shut. Up. I'm trying to rescue you."

He removed the blindfold first this time; a man clothed in black stood almost six feet tall in front of me, his face hidden by a blank porcelain mask with two round eyeholes. Reaching up to the mask, he removed it momentarily to flash his face.

What?!

That… That didn't make any sense!

The gag was removed; not keen on getting slapped again, I contained my surprise to whisper uneasily:

"I… Iruka-sensei?"

"Guess again," he said as he moved behind my chair, and the strong cord binding my wrists was cut. I thought a moment as the rope around my arms and body also fell to the ground.

"Ino?"

'Iruka' – or whoever it was who currently occupied his body – turned their blankly masked gaze on me a moment.

"…Stop guessing," he deadpanned, and sliced the binding on my ankles with a kunai.

I got to my feet, wobbling slightly as my stiff limbs adjusted again to movement. "I don't understand…"

"Then don't ask, shut up, and follow me, Hyuuga-sama. We don't have all day."

I gasped. "You!"

"I picked up the jutsu from Ino a while back, now let's go! Before someone comes!" Grabbing my hand, he half-dragged me from the room and raced down a hallway.

"Not far from the hideout," he began quietly as we ran, "Oto forces were chasing some New Konoha shinobi who'd stolen from the market when another Konoha group ambushed and cut off the pursuers. I was in that group. So was Iruka." A quick look around a corner, and he turned and kept moving. "But shortly into the battle that ensued, I mysteriously fell unconscious and Iruka opted to return me to the safety of the base."

He swiftly scaled a ladder, opening a trapdoor at the top and hopping out. I followed, clambering out to emerge into fresh air and daylight under the shade of a tree.

"Get it? Uchiha Sasuke had nothing to do with your escape. Plenty of people on both sides witnessed him falling unconscious in battle, and he's been asleep in the infirmary the entire time."

"Clever…" I admitted, getting to my feet. "And… Thanks," I added, grudgingly but still sincere. I can't thank you enough… even if it is just an order from Orochimaru-s–

"Hyuuga," he said, meeting my eyes.

"What is it?"

"I was actually supposed to slip you a message from Orochimaru-sama. Your mission … was to remain a captive for the next two days and transform within New Konoha on the full moon."

That was a punch in the face. He wanted me to…? It explained why no one had come to rescue me until now. "So then … you're acting on your own right now? Why would you help me?"

He shrugged off my suspicion. "Hokage-sama seemed just a little too thrilled at the thought of you killing your way out of New Leaf, if you know what I mean. You looked so miserable and desperate down there… I guess I just felt like giving you a choice in the matter. Now hurry up and decide, and if you want I'll 'recapture' you."

My teeth ground. "I can't do that…"

He nodded. "In that case, I wasn't allowed to see you and thus couldn't deliver the assignment. You escaped on your own and have no knowledge of the mission."

"Understood," I said with a smirk. The kid's pretty smart after all; he really thought this through. I fled for the Hokage tower.

I could hardly believe it. He 'just wanted to give me a choice in the matter' – was that truly his sole motive? Or was it a true motive at all? For all I knew, he intended to set me up; it wouldn't look very good if I claimed to have not received the mission and Sasuke said otherwise.

No… When he said that, there was nothing but honesty in his voice and face alike. That part was true enough. My hearing was too acute, my eyes too keen to miss a trace of deceit in someone at his level.

I needed to analyze this. If he'd left me there, I would probably have slaughtered who knows how many of New Konoha's shinobi. Did he not want that to happen? But then, it would also blow New Leaf's trust for him out the window…

If he'd informed them of the danger and I'd been freed, it would be made apparent he cared for them enough to neglect and even counteract Orochimaru-sama's orders. Though with this stunt he was in fact still neglecting orders, wasn't I as well?

And if he'd yielded to bringing me the pill and had it given to me to prevent transformation and allow the renegades to keep me as their hostage, loyalty to Konoha would have been made glaringly obvious.

So which side was he on?

…I was startled to find that I had no idea.

Eleven, Part Two: Ookami to Kitsune

Hinata ヒナタ

–"I know where we can lie low for a while. We'll be safe in Nami no Kuni, the Land of Waves."–

We'd decided it would be best to avoid drawing attention to ourselves for a while – at least until the alarm over a near-successful prison raid died down again. Telling us about his first C-ranked mission, Naruto had suggested staying for a week or so in Nami no Kuni, a tiny island country off Fire's eastern coast.

Mi, Hitsuji, Saru, I, Uma, Tora, Ookami… Reikuchiyose.

While we were there, we would also try to come up with some sort of plan to track down Tsunade. It wouldn't be easy; we knew little more than her name and (thanks to Lee's good intuition to check for an 'About the Author' page at the back of Introduction to Medical Ninjutsu) her appearance.

"I take it you healed up overnight?"

"Yes; take a look," I said, opening my mind to him as I activated the Byakugan and focused on myself. "The injury is gone, as if it never happened…"

After several hours of travel this morning we were taking a long break, after which we could easily reach Nami by sundown. At the moment Naruto appeared to be meditating, Lee was walking on his hands, and I had summoned Kurogiba.

"So you're just taking an hour-long break? Then what did you call me here for? That's hardly enough time to get some decent training in… Hey, runt – what's with that look on your face?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Hands fisted at my sides, I looked away a moment. Then I forced myself to meet his eyes again, almost glaring. "I'm not worthy of being your partner. Why is that, Kurogiba-sama?"

He nearly laughed. "Why? Hm, let's see… You were supposed to meet Okaa-sama in the Land of Demons, but instead she had to come to your rescue. She was even so lenient as to accept you just for supposedly proving yourself against human adversaries. If you ask me, you shouldn't have been allowed to sign the contract in the first place.

"But if Houkou-sama–!"

"Even if she respects you, it is up to the familiar whether or not to lend you his power. In other words it's up to me – and I haven't changed my mind. In my eyes you're still unworthy of wielding the power of the Ookami."

"Then what am I supposed to do to prove myself?!" I demanded. Blushing slightly, I looked quickly to my feet and quieted down. "What can I do … to earn your respect?"

"It's not much. You could survive a journey through the Land of Demons, drop by to say hi to Okaa-sama, and present her some manner of gift or offering. If you made it, I'd even be inclined to aid you during the trip back!"

"S-so then… What is the L-Land of Demons like?"

"Oh, absolutely crawling with monsters and soul-sucking beasts!" he said, eyes devilishly bright as he watched my surely paling face. "I have little doubt many would jump at the chance to leech some chakra or taste fresh human flesh, and let's not forget the ferocious and highly territorial–,"

"Okay, I get it!" I squeaked. "I-isn't there … any alternative? Anything at all?"

He sighed. "I wouldn't much be able to look down on you if you were to grow more powerful than me – of course that's with no curse seal and no Soul Link, and I wouldn't go easy on you like I did the last time."

I hung my head. Last time hadn't gone well, and I doubted he would hesitate to seriously hurt me if I challenged him again. Fighting him was definitely preferable to taking on the beings that lurked in the Domain of Demons – but if all I had were fire jutsu, was there even a hope of defeating him?

"That's all I've got. Since you're clearly too cowardly to attempt either, you are unworthy of calling on my strength in battle–,"

"Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan! You've got to check out this new technique I just came up with!"

"Naruto-kun…?" I said as he came running up excitedly. He formed a handseal – and jumped when Kurogiba moved suddenly between us, low to the ground and pelt blazing wildly, to loose a vicious snarl.

For a moment the three of us were silent and still.

Kurogiba-sama … was that move maybe a little protective? I wondered.

"Nandattebayo?! What was that for, dog breath?!"

The wolf straightened and collected himself, paying the comment no mind. Naruto tensed and watched nervously as Kurogiba approached and circled him, inspecting the boy intently. "What the…?"

"Um… Kurogiba-sama?"

He stopped in front of him to fix the boy with an intense stare. Just when Naruto was beginning to fidget even as he glared back, Kurogiba looked to me.

"Tell you what, scrawny mutt. You want me to respect you? Just defeat fox-boy over here."

"WHAT?!" two voices chorused.

"Okaa-sama was defeated by the Kyuubi no Youko once before. An apprentice of the Ookami and the host of the old Kitsune… I might be impressed if you could prove yourself stronger."

Naruto grinned. "How about it, Hinata-chan? We haven't sparred in forever!"

I blinked, looking to Kurogiba. Seriously? Just like that, an option with no risk of severe injury, loss of flesh, or the devouring of my soul?

Well, if Naruto was up to it…

I smiled and nodded. I'd definitely try. "Naruto-kun, I challenge you!"

The two of us stood fifteen yards apart; Kurogiba sat near Lee, watching from the edge of the clearing.

"Naruto-kun!" I called. "Before we begin, I'd like to make it clear. Please don't hold back for my sake; for the very reason that this is to prove myself to Kurogiba-sama, I want to defeat you fair and square or not at all!"

"Right!" he said, nodding. "I didn't expect you'd want it any other way! You'd better give it your all, too, okay?"

"Of course."

Lee raised a hand into the air. "Very well then! If both–!"

"Scrawny koinu and Kitsunegaki!" Kurogiba supplied, earning glares from two sets of eyes.

"Ah, yes, well… If both of you are ready…"

Naruto nodded. I nodded back. Lee's hand fell.

"Begin!"

The moment this was said Naruto hopped forward, drawing a fist far back in preparation for a powerful strike. As I watched in puzzlement, Lee shouted out to me.

"Hinata-san! Look out!!"

Even if he was saying this, what did Naruto plan to do from way over th–?

…Huh?

"AGH!" I cried, bending over and clutching my middle as the wind was knocked painfully out of me.

What hit me?! I thought, eyes wide as I stumbled back a few steps. Still in my vulnerable position, I looked up to see Naruto draw back again and suddenly appear in front of me to swing at my head. I ducked under the fist – and a knee caught my jaw. As I fell I rolled backwards, getting swiftly back on my feet and hopping back a yard.

This must be his Advanced Kageken, I realized. "I see… When you strike, the force is retained in a kage bunshin that appears a split-second to land the attack, vanishing so suddenly that most wouldn't even glimpse it." Most, including me – I hadn't even seen a shadow clone, so all I could do was infer. "You can also substitute with your clones to advance instantly for more solid attacks."

"Yep! It's a long-range taijutsu style! You figured me out fast – now you need to find a way around it, or this battle won't last much longer."

I swore silently. He had every right to be confident; he could just as easily have dealt a knockout blow as his first strike, but had chosen to give me a chance to figure out what I was up against – and all the same, I wasn't sure I could find a way to combat it. If one lacked the skill to do so from the start, training oneself to react in time without any sort of strategy or trick could take many genin and chuunin weeks of time and practice in combating it, something no enemy he encountered would have. And if I were a real enemy and this wasn't a spar between friends, he could easily have slit my throat the first move … and I wouldn't even know how I'd died. Wouldn't have realized beforehand that I was even in danger…

I tried not to shudder as I understood what Lee had meant. And suddenly it wasn't only about proving myself to Kurogiba – if I could defeat Naruto, I would prove to myself I was strong enough to help protect him.

I straightened without showing weakness, concealing pain and fighting not to hold my stomach again. The sheer physical strength behind his blows … since when…? That's what I get for not training with them for weeks. This won't be easy.

I took in a deep breath … let it out … and attacked.

Naruto dodged aside, barely avoiding the punch as I lunged toward him. I turned to throw the other elbow into his stomach – and nearly stumbled when he vanished the instant of contact.

In the same moment he vanished he appeared in front of me, smiling playfully with his arms folded behind his back. No… Not the same moment. He must have both created a clone and replaced with it in the instant before the hit landed – in such close succession that one who didn't know better might think him a ghost, disappearing and rematerializing whenever struck. So the Kageken's defense was just as solid…

"Not bad," I remarked.

"You're a lot quicker than I remember," he commented. "You almost had me."

I jumped into a Konoha Sempuu; he didn't even move, instead bursting into smoke again. Upon landing I leaned forward, placing hands on the ground and lashing a foot back. As predicted, he'd appeared behind me: my kick connected. I looked back to see him vanish, and where he reappeared he was clutching his middle. I'd caught him before the Kawarimi.

Wasting no time, I threw a high roundhouse kick, and when he vanished, a leaping knee strike. I whirled into a sweeping kick, rose and pounced to throw a punch, met the ground on my hands, bent my knees, and kicked out behind me with both feet. Each time he simply disappeared on contact, and I didn't land another blow.

At my next swing he popped into smoke to appear a yard back from where he'd been. I moved and kicked, with the same result. Stepping forward, I punched with furious speed eight times more, and all the while he merely popped a yard back, arms behind him and a gentle smirk on his face.

I stood still, panting lightly as I looked into his tranquil purple eyes, an arm still outstretched before me.

The boy abruptly went up in smoke.

Idiot! I turned right into the backwards heel kick that came crashing across my face. He tricked me… He lulled me into the illusion that he could only replace when struck, and even knowing better I actually fell for it. He got me to dance in the palm of his hand, to believe he couldn't substitute at will the entire time…!

I hit the ground on my side and scrambled back to my feet, jumping several yards away and reaching into my shuriken holster. Naruto's eyes focused intently on me as I reached across my body in preparation to throw the stars backhand. He swiftly but calmly lifted a hand.

And it clapped onto my wrist, halting it immediately.

Not good! I punched with the other hand; it clapped onto a quickly raised palm.

"My turn."

He kicked out past me. I glimpsed a flicker of bright orange in front of me so brief I could have imagined it – but the harsh impact at my gut told quite clearly that I had not.

"Urg!"

Stay on your feet! I staggered back as he released me. He jumped forward, a fist outstretched before him, and I dodged to the side. Staring as he passed, I noticed the hand he'd held fisted at his other side springing out.

E-even behind him…! I thought, eyes snapping shut as an invisible punch landed squarely in my stomach and threw me off my feet. I rolled past him and lied gasping on my front a moment. Wincing, I slowly got up again.

"A-as expected, Naruto-kun is amazing. But I'm n-not finished yet…"

"Hey, I'm flattered!" Naruto said, beginning to raise both hands. As he vanished two arms hooked securely under my own. "But now I've got y–!"

We were near the treeline. I shoved back forcefully … and successfully knocked whatever breath I'd recovered out of myself as I slammed my back against a tree.

That wasn't smart… One eye shut, I braced myself against the tree to avoid falling down.

"Scrawny koinu! This is getting somewhat embarrassing to watch!" someone felt the need to inform me from the sidelines.

"Shut your mouth, Kurogiba-sama!"

"So you can focus on getting your butt kicked? But you're already doing that so well, I don't think we need to worry!"

Darn it! "I'm just getting started!" I yelled, racing toward Naruto again. Ten yards away, I pulled out a kunai.

Another flicker of orange and blue. I blinked, closing and opening a suddenly empty hand – and looked to see Naruto now holding a kunai ten yards away. He flicked it to the ground.

Nothing I tried was working! Kuso–!

He swung, and force met my face. I shut my eyes as a blow hit the other cheek, and raised hands to shield the back of my neck and head as best I could as he continued to strike.

Okay, calm down and think. I activated my Byakugan. Just endure it a moment and think. Think!

Even with the Byakugan, I can just barely see the clones… The chakra aura technique … no, it's too thin on my own.

Pop. An impact met my back, causing me to gag.

What other advantages do I have? Smell … no, by the time I catch the clones' scent they're long gone.

Pop. A dent was put in my stomach.

Unh– Sounds… That tiny popping noise before each strike … something must cause it. The displacement of air when a clone appears? How can that help me…? And the rustling of the leaves… Still not enough time to base a good reaction.

Pop. A kick in the side.

Wait. The clones have to mimic his moves perfectly … that's why the force is retained. His chakra center … the clones' chakra centers… Front or back, left or right – whatever side they appear, their strikes will be virtually identical to Naruto's in relation to that point! If I focus my Byakugan enough… Yes! I can see a tiny spark of energy where the center of the keirakukei will be, just an instant before a bunshin appears!

A ten-second strategy, but it could work. If I could watch the true Naruto's attack, and link it to the place I've pinpointed the clone will appear…

That's it–!

THAM! THAM!

Naruto blurred nearer, he and the clone that flowed into existence burying fists side by side in my abdomen. My eyes flew open as I was driven back.

My knees shook. I embraced myself and folded double, knees hitting the leaf-strewn earth as I gasped unevenly in a quivering ball of pain. I retched, and a small amount of crimson splashed onto the ground.

"Pathetic…" Kurogiba grumbled.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked.

I placed a palm onto the ground, and then another. "J-just … just fine," I said, smirking as I started to stand once more. "But you know, Naruto-kun, I won't surrender. You'll have to come and finish me off." I knew my eyes were dancing now as I reached full height. Be careful, Naruto-kun, or the tables might just turn…

Nodding, he whipped out a dull kunai and drew back his arm. Halfway through the swing, I heard a pop five yards to my right.

What?! I thought, entering a spin as I barely dodged a kunai knife. So he hadn't released, but the clone had–?

Pop. Naruto was suddenly in front of me.

Time to waste some chakra!

"Fire Release: Blazing Rotation!"

Chakra was thrust from every working tenketsu on my body as I spun myself rapidly. A dome of chakra smacked Naruto away and whipped thousands of brittle, brown leaves about in its flow. Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster! my mind shouted as I kept spinning, expending a huge amount of my chakra to increase the kaiten's radius and ferocity. I only had one chance to get this right. Leaves were shredded to bits until around me was a swirling storm of chakra clouded heavily with leaf-scented brown dust. I actually owed Neji-nii-san for this next part.

Blaze!

I built up a concentrated pool of fire chakra and forced it away. Igniting as it streamed from chakra points, it entered the flow of the rotation to quickly catch and spread rapidly through the leaf dust, flaring out to briefly set the dome ablaze.

I slowed to a stop and staggered backwards, twirling before abruptly meeting the ground. Eh…? I shook my head; the world was spinning. I gasped – which resulted in a bout of hacking and coughing as I sat up and batted out a small flame flickering on the shoulder of my shirt. A large radius of leaves had been blackened to dusty ash, and dark smoke hung thickly in the air. I sneezed loudly. It stung my nose, but it would work.

"Wh… What was the point?!" Naruto asked, looking around suspiciously. I noted that with my normal sight, I could hardly see more than his silhouette from this distance.

"Great job, koinu! Knock him away, then add the fire! Brilliant!"

"I was trying not to burn him!" I shot back, pointing at the wolf. My arm swayed in attempt to follow him; everything was still spinning a little bit.

"Oh, Hinata-san…" Lee sighed, trying to hide the note of near-pity that said he couldn't even believe the idiocy of the seemingly flashy yet pointless thing I'd just done. "Wasting the better part of your chakra, disorienting yourself, and setting yourself on fire…"

"That's my koinu for ya…" Kurogiba grumbled out.

"Just watch," I said, smirking as I stood up. I activated my Byakugan once more. "Naruto-kun, your advantage has been eliminated."

"What…?"

"Don't believe me?" I patted my stomach with an open hand. "Go on. Hit me with your best shot – you'll see."

He was not one to take taunting lightly. Confident he was safe so long as he attacked from a distance, he complied. "Okay, since you asked for it!"

Naruto drew back his hand and struck out.

The ability to gather a large amount of different information on various levels and act on it in an instant… That's one thing mastering the Soul Link has taught me.

Pop.

Sound. The popping noise of displaced air.

Smell. Said displaced air pushing smoke in my face.

Feel. The chakra aura, thickened on the hanging smoke, displaced as well.

Sight. Naruto's keirakukei center, the shimmer of chakra that would be the position of the same in the appearing clone.

A punch would come from directly in front of me at stomach height.

Smat!

"Y-you blocked it!"

I shrugged, smirking at the look on his face as I lowered my hand – the hand that had rather neatly caught a fist that existed for only an instant. I tucked my right arm behind my back, holding the left palm-out in front of me. "I guess I got lucky."

"That stance…?" He shook off his quizzical stare and struck again.

Pop!

This time the pop and the nose-stinging burst of dark smoke came forward from behind. Focusing on that particular area, I was able to tell where my rather weak chakra aura was parted and concentrated the Byakugan on the spark of energy within it that I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't been looking there for it.

A hand chop, neck height from behind.

I shifted aside. A surprised clone stumbled past and vanished.

Yes! I clenched the fist behind my back. From here on, no matter where he is, fight as though he's striking from close range!

"It's not luck… You're calculating somehow…!" He attacked rapidly now. I blocked three jabs at my abdomen, ducked a roundhouse kick, dodged a punch aimed for my nose. "What did you do?" he asked curiously as he tried determinedly to land a hit. He replaced with an attacking clone, following up with a flurry of strikes to directly engage me himself. "How did you get so fast all of a sudden?"

"I didn't get any faster. I can hear, smell, feel, and see what you're about to do!" I said, deflecting punch after punch. I sharply hacked a forearm aside with my own. My hand darted to his other shoulder, and an incoming punch froze in its tracks and shuddered off course as two fingers brushed down his arm. Jūken stream!

My right hand pulled from behind me, and I slammed an uppercut into his jaw. He burst into smoke on contact.

My foot lashed back as I leaned forward. Solid contact was made with his jaw.

He shadow stepped a few yards back and staggered a few more, panting for breath.

"I would be careful, Naruto-kun!" Lee called helpfully, "Hinata-san's own taijutsu is nothing to scoff at!" Come to think of it, Lee was the only one who'd been training regularly with both of the others lately.

I rose to full height. Naruto spun into a sweeping kick before rising and punching out. I jumped as a clone's leg passed beneath me – and shifted slightly before reaching up to catch the wrist and forearm of the boy suddenly behind me. Making use of his momentum, I threw him over myself, slamming his back against the ground; he gritted his teeth and punched upward at empty air, and I released him as a quick strike landed between my shoulder blades. He substituted away, and as soon as he appeared fifteen yards off he jumped and flipped into an axe kick motion.

A forceful impact met arms crossed over my head. Knuckles facing down, Naruto drove a fist forward – a clone was about to strike for my unguarded stomach. I could only shift enough that he hit my ribs instead.

CRACK!!

"Ah!"

…I was as surprised that a kage bunshin broke its hand on my ribs as I was that Naruto cried out, shaking his own hand a moment before clutching it close to himself. Zooming in with the Byakugan, I quickly inspected his hand to find no bruising or any other sign of injury.

A clone hit me and Naruto cried out… He feels their pain? It made sense; when formed with his movement linking trick, a clone was even more like an extension of himself. That was why he typically dispelled them the instant after they attacked… to minimize risk of counterattack!

Fear glinted briefly behind his eyes as he spotted the analytical look in my own.

So that's his weakness.

He suddenly struck again. This time I deduced not only how far I needed to shift to avoid the fist that was about to come for my face, but also noted the approximate location the doppelganger's nose would be.

I shifted and struck out.

Naruto suppressed a yelp. His brief loss of focus was enough; in moments I cleared the distance between us to lash out with a punch. He blocked, and I struck again with my left hand. His forearm quickly positioned itself to catch it – but inches away my fist opened into a palm. Naruto grunted as the Jūken strike landed in a direct hit, sending my chakra into his arm.

I kicked over his head as he ducked, and swiftly followed up with a palm thrust. He deflected it and shifted outside a swing, and I spun sharply into a reverse roundhouse kick. He ducked again – and my left arm swept out. He barely blocked at his middle in time, but I brushed a Jūken Stream down the defending arm.

That's both of his arms. He shouldn't be using any handseals for a few minutes at least…

"Pulling the Juugouken on me, are ya? I see how it is!" he laughed, blocking a fist.

I snorted slightly as I spun outside of a kick and struck again. "Look at who's talking, Kageken master!" I said with a smirk.

"True," he conceded. "But it would be tricky if I didn't know your style already. All I have to do is be sure to dodge your left instead of blocking it, and I'll be safe!"

"True," I returned.

If he wanted to believe that I wouldn't stop him.

I lashed a kick toward his head with my right foot, and when he dodged I turned to kick again with the other heel. He ducked this time, and as my foot returned to the ground I reached across myself with my right arm. I swept my hand out in a sharp backfist; he snapped back to narrowly dodge.

In conjunction with the motion of the backfist, I'd thrown a foot toward his gut.

THUD!

My kick impacted crossed arms forcefully enough to knock him a good few yards. He fell onto his backside, wincing as he rested a hand on his middle. With confused eyes he looked up at my left hand fisted near my cheek, and my right arm, extended out beside me, as I held the position a second longer before my foot moved again to the ground.

"What just happened?" he asked as he rose to his feet. "I know I steered clear of your left hand, so…" He gasped. "No way."

"Way," I said, blushing slightly at my own foolish joke. "It couldn't much be called Gentle Ferocious Fist if the 'Gentle' was restricted to one of my limbs."

"And I wondered why you were fighting barefoot," he said, looking to the bandaging tape that dressed the ankle and instep of my feet.

I nodded. The soles of the feet were among the most difficult areas to manipulate chakra in, but I had managed in time to teach myself to release effective chakra bursts from either the heels or balls of my feet. "I may not have two limbs capable of Jūken anymore, Naruto-kun." I tucked my right hand behind my back. "But it was your mistake to assume I have one. Now I have three."

"Well… Snap." He drooped with a pout (a look that successfully lit my cheeks bright pink), resting a hand on his forehead. "That's impressive alright. It's starting to look like I'm the one who's about to get his butt kicked."

His hand moved sharply.

Pop. Displaced smoke. Shimmering chakra.

I turned, two fingers punching sharply against its wrist the instant the clone appeared.

"That won't work anymore, Naruto-kun," I declared, trying to hide the fact that the distraction of a rather cute face had nearly cost me the match.

He rubbed his wrist, his face thoughtful. "Wouldn't matter anyway; my force didn't carry over…"

His chakra flow's too disrupted for him to form shadow clones effectively. This battle is as good as over; just stay focused and finish it off… I reached into my kunai pouch.

"YOSH!!! Your YOUTH blazes BEAUTIFULLY, Hinata-san!! What a comeback!!!" Lee called, clearly unable to hold it in any longer.

I withdrew a blunt kunai. Naruto sighed.

"It's too difficult to fight with my chakra all stopped up like this." His hands suddenly clapped together.

Wh-what's he going to do? I thought, flinching in alarm.

Naruto inhaled deeply. His eyes snapped open.

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!"

Violet chakra exploded into a frenzy and blazed around him. Even Lee appeared to be able to see the furious flare of powerful energy, and in the Byakugan it was blinding.

"Ack!" I cried, stunned into deactivating it. I blinked – and jerked to the side. An air bullet whipped at my hair, tickling an ear.

Byakugan!

Pop.

No smoke was displaced. My suddenly weaker chakra aura didn't catch it. I couldn't locate it… because that air bullet had blasted a trail through the dust cloud free of smoke.

And I was standing right in the middle of it.

No! I crossed my arms as Naruto flowed into existence to crash against me, clutching a shoulder and knocking me to the ground. Even as my back was hitting the earth, I swung the kunai knife still in my hand.

My knife stopped against his neck … in the same instant that I felt cold metal meet mine.

I stared up into the equally wide, violet eyes of Naruto as he stared down at me, and we remained frozen that way for more than a few seconds.

A draw.

A draw…

A draw?!

Wait a second… since when were his eyes…?

Then I became extremely conscious of our position, and the heat that surged into my face threatened to knock me unconscious as I loosed a high-pitched squeak.

"Ah! S-sorry!" he cried, hastily getting off of me. I sat up, eyes shut as I fought down the color in my cheeks.

H-h-how em-b-barrassing!

"I guess we'll call it a tie, huh?" Looking toward him again, I noted his eyes were their now-normal indigo shade again.

"Yes," I agreed. A tie. I already knew that wasn't good enough for Kurogiba, but, what could I do?

"I cannot believe it," Lee said as he walked up. "After such an amazing clash of strength and wits, it is a tie. And you, Naruto-kun – talk about restoration of chakra flow taken to the extreme! Most people would hurt themselves by attempting such a thing… More importantly, however, we should move soon. Though the hour is not yet up, that little stunt may have drawn attention to our location."

Naruto shut his eyes and nodded sheepishly, rubbing his head. I looked around. Where was…?

"You do realize that you're being watched?" Kurogiba called loudly from out of sight. A man shrieked in terror and came stumbling from the treeline fifteen yards from us, backing away as the wolf followed him out with none too friendly a look on his face.

He doesn't seem to be a shinobi…

Sweating bullets, the brown haired man glanced at the three of us behind him and then back to the snarling wolf spirit. He got up and ran.

"No you don't!" Naruto stood and appeared in his path; with a whimper he fell back in surprise. "Why were you spying on us?" he demanded calmly.

"I'm very sorry, I really am…" The young man met his eyes, stared a moment, and gasped. "I know you!"

"Uh… r-really now…" Naruto said in a 'Well I don't know you' type of voice. The voice one would typically try to hide in such a situation. Oh, Naruto-kun…

"Yes! You look a little different, but you're that kid our bridge was named after!"

Eleven, Part Three: Liar

Neji ネジ

"I see…" he said, his face unreadable. "So I assume Sasuke-kun failed to deliver your assignment…?"

"Assignment, Lord Orochimaru?"

"Yes. Your mission was in fact to remain their prisoner until the full moon."

"I apologize, my lord. I'm afraid Sasuke wasn't permitted to see me. The rebels most likely wanted to avoid risking such passing of information."

"Hmm… Very well then. All the same, I am pleased to have you back safe and sound. You may leave."

I bowed and turned to exit the room. Was I safe? Had he caught me? Just get out of the room. I could wonder that once I was away from–

"Neji-kun…"

I halted, my hand inches from one of the double doors. Calm down. Calm down!

–"You would do well to work on your lying … the next time you intend to hide something from me."–

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama?" I answered politely.

"Wait for a few minutes outside, would you?"

"Of course." My hand moved forward.

"Enter!"

I pushed one door open. The other opened as well.

I turned my head.

White met black for a single moment. Fear washed down my spine.

Uchiha…?

We passed each other. The doors closed.

Kuso! Okay, calm yourself and breathe! He's on my side for the moment… He's a natural rebel to authority – he wouldn't think twice about lying to Orochimaru-sama. He's only saying the same things I did.

Don't pace. He can probably hear you.

Don't bite your hand. He'll notice the marks.

Don't–

"Enter!"

I pushed the door open perhaps a bit too quickly. Still, an expression of calm resided on my face, my breathing relaxed as I strode to stand at Sasuke's side. I bowed my head.

"Orochimaru-sa–,"

A wave of murderous intent crashed against me.

"Tell me, Neji-kun… Why is it that you appear to be lying, and Sasuke-kun does not?"

I could feel golden eyes piercing through me; my ears popped, and I clutched at my chest as it became very hard to breathe. My knees hit the floor. I turned my head to Sasuke; the Uchiha was staring ahead with a look of indifference.

"O-Orochimaru…sama…!" I managed past the invisible force constricting around me. "I d-don't understand… What I've told you … is the truth!"

"You mean Hyuuga-san told you something otherwise? It would appear, Lord Orochimaru, your mission was received, understood, and deliberately neglected."

"Liar!!" I yowled, still fighting for breath. "I knew nothing of the mission – he helped me escape to protect his precious friends in New Konoha! He – he told me not to mention it to you … probably s-so you wouldn't know he'd disobeyed his orders–!"

"Utter nonsense, and don't raise your voice against Orochimaru-sama!" Sasuke said sharply. "I did nothing of the sort, my lord! Hyuuga-san escaped independently in willing opposition to his orders, and is now trying to worm his way out of punishment by tarnishing my own name!" he shouted, glaring poisonously down at me.

Even as I gasped and choked, I smiled and laughed back at the idiot. There – he 'did nothing of the sort' and I 'escaped independently' – lies! Orochimaru-sama would catch him…!

…

"What – Do you not see it on his face?! He lies!!" A tremble of disbelieving desperation jumped into my voice as Orochimaru stared silently. "L-look at him, Orochimaru-sama – he's the one who's lying to you, not me! He's–!!"

"Hyuuga-san, you're making a fool of yourself."

A growl tore from my throat as I glowered murderously at the boy beside me. My nails were suddenly claws as I rose and lunged toward him, one hand latching onto his shoulder, the other drawing far back to slash.

"You FILTHY little – GYAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

He stepped aside, allowing me to fall. Writhing and yowling, I clutched at the mark on my neck as a malicious force poked and prodded at it to send bolts of pain searing through my flesh.

"Take care you never disappoint me, Sasuke-kun…" The force pressed down cruelly on the seal, eliciting from me a scream to punctuate his words. I didn't care. If he wished for me to scream then I would scream, nice and loud. If he asked me to stab myself I would do it gladly! Anything! Just let it end!!

"Hai … Lord Orochimaru."

"Please… I-I'm sorry! I truly am! Please forgive me, my lord…!" I whimpered, bawling and groveling and begging for mercy. "I won't … disappoint … again! I swear it–!"

For three eternally long seconds fire was driven through me, blazing under my skin, clawing at my soul. My eyes shut and my mouth opened as far as it could, and for three seconds I screamed in agony.

It ended.

I was left a quivering, whimpering heap on the floor, gasping for air and sobbing silently at my subordinate's feet.

Hinata ヒナタ

'You look about ready to murder someone. Which doesn't suit you, by the way.'

I started slightly, my hand falling from where it had rested on the mark. I met Kurogiba's eyes, my own promptly focusing. 'It's nothing…'

'Hmph. 'Neji-nii-san, Neji-nii-san' – what's wrong with him?'

'You were reading my mind?!'

'Yes.'

I looked away. '…Pain. He's in pain.'

'Hm,' he thought, not commenting further. He laughed quietly. 'Let's stop. We're making that poor fellow nervous.'

I raised my head and realized the Nami man, seated on a tree's roots, was watching the two of us; undoubtedly he'd noticed my expressions during our brief, silent conversation. He flinched and quickly averted his gaze.

"So…" Lee began when Naruto finished working on a recently rather nasty bruise on his forearm. In fifteen or so seconds' application of healing chakra, he'd reduced the swelling greatly to leave a light mark that would soon vanish on its own. "Would you care to tell what you were up to? Just who are you?"

"O-oh, yes, of course–!"

"Calm down," Lee said gently. "We will not harm you."

"R-right…" He nodded. "My name's Zori. I'm actually a messenger from Wave; I was sent to contact Konoha with a request for a mission. I barely managed to escape…"

"What kind of mission?" Naruto pressed, eyes narrowed. I knew we were thinking along similar lines – did Zori have a request for New Oto … or was Nami unaware that Konoha was…?

"We hope to gain Konohagakure's aid in dealing with the strange New Oto shinobi that are occupying our village!"

The three of us hid our reactions fairly well. "Ironic," Naruto muttered almost silently.

"You're Leaf shinobi, aren't you? Have you been sent as representatives to look into the matter…?" He trailed off as I shook my head slowly. I exchanged a look with the others.

"Zori-san… Konoha fell under Oto's control three months ago. New Oto … is Konoha," I explained.

"What?" he gasped, eyes wide. "But – your headbands…?"

"As far as we know, we were just about the only ones lucky enough to escape. We're technically just missing-nin who are still loyal to Konoha," Naruto said.

The man shook his head. "The Hidden Leaf Village, conquered… How?"

"It is the truth," Lee stated grimly.

Zori lowered his eyes, fists clenching. "Gr… Kuso!" He thrust a hand into his robe, and I automatically tensed, prepared for a weapon. The three of us were immediately on our feet … as the man sank to his knees, head low, holding out a small pouch.

"What is that?" Naruto asked.

"The payment for a m-mission!" he answered at a whimper. "You displayed such great skill even in that simple, friendly fight; I can tell you ninja are terribly powerful! I beg of you – I have nowhere else to bring my offer!"

I met Naruto's and Lee's eyes uneasily. Kneeling down, I gently clasped the messenger's hands and closed them around the pouch. He stared with desperation in his eyes, pleading silently as I pushed his outstretched hands back.

"We'll have to think about it," I said honestly before turning away and moving to join the hushed discussion the other two had already begun.

"We are supposed to be lying low. There is no worse a move we could make right now!"

"But I mean … it's messed up! Oto can't just do as it pleases! There are laws and treaties against stuff like this, right? Occupying Nami on the sly… They already took our home. If we can, I want to stop them from having Wave!"

"It is too dangerous. I would like to help as well, but we cannot risk it! Now is the time to mind our business and walk away. This is a matter to be left to the other great shinobi nations. Three nukenin can do nothing here! Hinata-san, tell him!"

He was right; as nukenin we were in no position to enforce the law, and it wasn't like we had a nation to protect us. I could probably have gotten though to Naruto if I'd wanted, but truthfully… "I have a bad feeling about this. I'm concerned… I m-mean, what would Sound even want with a tiny nation like Wave? Sorry, Lee-kun, but something is telling me we should at least go and investigate."

Lee sighed. "If you two have made up your minds, I fear I do not stand a chance." Breaking from our circle, he stepped toward Zori. "Just how many New Oto shinobi are we talking about?"

Naruto ナルト

"Naruto-kun, this bridge is named after you…?" Hinata asked beside me in surprise. The three of us stood before the Great Naruto Bridge, headbands, shuriken holsters, and kunai pouches tucked away in the bottom of our packs.

Under different circumstances I would probably have grinned and boasted all about the bridge's name. Instead I simply nodded, fingering a square of tape on my face that concealed my whisker marks. "We're here. Across this bridge is the Land of Waves."

ナルト / リー / ヒナタ \ ハナビ \ ネジ

End Chapter Eleven

Naruto: Cool! So now I get to see Inari, and Tazuna, and Tsunami and all those guys again, right?!

Hinata: Is that … allowed? Is there some kind of rule against that?

Naruto: Why would there be?

Neji: Fool! You can't just revisit seemingly one-arc characters you met in like, episode ten!

Lee: Precisely! You know how it goes – you meet the person/people with some kind of problem. You help him/her/them solve the problem, become 'friends,' and in the end walk away smiling and waving happily and promising you will come back and visit some time, but you never really do!

Hinata: Like in every episode of Pokémon!

Hanabi: What is … Pokémon?

Hinata: …Oh no, not this again!!

(static–)

Lee: When the truth behind Oto's takeover of Nami is revealed, the strength of our resolve to protect this place will be put to the test.

Neji: You're more clever than I first thought, but this is far from over. You're using some kind of trick, Uchiha, and mark my words; I'm going to find it…

Naruto: Kuso… I don't know what to do! I don't…

Hinata: I don't want to become a monster…

Naruto/Hinata: But if the choice is to kill or die … What can I do?

Lee: Oh, no!!

Hanabi: Next time, Chapter Twelve.

ARGH! What a nightmare... Halfway through proofreading, and for once (ONCE!) I'm not saving periodically, and the power goes out! It came back on in a second, but I lost all my corrections! I started over and reread through it again, though...

I'm planning for the next chapter to be the finale of 'Part I' of the fic, but it will probably end up either extremely long or divided in half. Can't be sure yet ;) .

Whoops… This chapter was kind of more action and less plot. I didn't really plan that, but both fight scenes were pretty important. How was Naruto vs. Hinata? That one was fun to write, and I used it to show off the Kageken in battle and introduce the Juugouken (a mixture of Hinata's style, Juuken, and Lee's style, Gouken. Pretty cool, huh? :)

Lee had another sword technique besides the Blade of Infinity that was originally going to debut in the Sound Four battle, but I decided to save it for later.

Lol, random funny: At one point I was nodding off while typing late at... er, early in the morning. I fell asleep with my hand on the keyboard and woke up to see I had the Oto taichou in the prison saying, "This battle is oooooo..." with about six lines of o's! I was like O.O Talk about emphasis!

Anyone surprised by Sasuke's actions? And who has a guess as to how he's lying so easily as to go undetected by Orochimaru and Neji?

If you were looking forward to the rescue being successful, sorry, but the story's not ready to wrap up that soon!

Liked it? Hated it? Please tell me what you thought of the chapter, and if you have any questions let me know!

Laters!

:o)Hinata0321:o)