Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
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Chapter Two
Diplomacy
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Naruto watched from the wall as the four men walked through Konoha. Three of them wore long-sleeved grey tops under odd white jackets that only covered one shoulder while the fourth one wore a high-collared flack-jacket over a black suit and had bandages wrapped around his head, his Hitai-ate angled over his right eye. An obi was tied around his waist, something that Naruto found slightly amusing, having seen them only on women before (especially the ones who worked near his apartment, although those women tied theirs at the front for some reason.
The parade of Kumo shinobi made their way past Naruto's perch, the leader waving as he smiled at the crowds, then his eye fastened on Naruto and he stumbled slightly before continuing as if nothing had happened.
Naruto mentally frowned as he watched the man vanish down the road. Something wasn't right.
Perhaps he should keep an eye on the Kumo ninja.
Just in case they tried something.
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Hiashi smiled graciously at his guest as they toasted the signing of the treaty between Kumogakure and Konohagakure. The one-eyed ninja returned the smile and sipped his sake appreciatively.
A brief flicker at the door alerted Hiashi to the presence of his brother. Glancing past his guest, Hiashi's gaze settled on his brother's hands which were flickering through the varient of sign language used by the clan.
Daughters in rooms, asleep. All quiet, all clear.
Hiashi gave a fractional nod and Hizashi promptly vanished, his message delivered and Hiashi turned his attention back to his guest.
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Naruto watched the Hyuuga compound from far above, experimenting with his vision. One mode showed him heat, which he knew from the way that he could see both people and fires when using it. Another mode showed people as sparkling blue shapes, odd currents flowing through them. Holding up his arm, Naruto focused on it, seeing the same energy flowing through his armour, although sparkles of red occasionally flashed in it.
"Freaky." He murmered to himself, then he re-focused on the people below.
"What the…?"
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The door opened silently and a shadowy shape slipped through. The girl in the bed barely had time to twitch before a cloth was pushed against her face. Her eyes opened in shock, then rolled up and the man quickly tied her up, her knees tucked under her chin and her hands behind her back before gagging her. Pulling out a sack, he placed it on the bed and rolled her so that he could pull the sack up around her, pulling the drawstring tight and then using the thick strap to sling the bag over his back. Glancing round, he slid open the window and vaulted out silently, pausing only long enough to close the window behind him.
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"Oh, that's not right." Naruto fumed as he watched the Kumo ninja pause long enough to slip a package to an old man at another window before continuing on his way. "I guess it's time to step in."
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Hinata tried to focus. She had managed, despite being caught by surprise, to avoid inhaling too much of the soporific gas and as a result, she was still aware, but she wasn't able to move and the ropes were starting to dig into her skin.
Biting down a sob, Hinata tried to activate her Byakugan, but without the ability to make the hand-signs that she had learned only a week ago, she was unable to channel her chakra in the correct way for it to use her clan's bloodlimit.
"Stop."
Hinata inhale sharply as the strange voice spoke. It was like nothing that she had ever heard before, almost metallic and… buzzing?
"What the… what the hell are you?"
"I am Hiro. Release the girl."
Hinata felt her heart soar. She was being rescued.
"No."
A scrape of metal sounded, then an odd high-pitched whine started up, turning into a tooth-clenching screech. Hinata tried to hunch her shoulders in a vain attempt to protect her ears, then the screech stopped and a metallic ting rang out.
"My sword… You sliced straight through it…" her captor half-whispered.
"Release the girl. Now."
Hinata tried to scream through her gag as she was swung round, then suddenly her captor screamed as four weird zapping noises sounded, then she was falling before being snatched out of the air.
"Hmmmph?"
The top of the bag opened and an armoured hand reached in, scooping her up and she found herself looking into the lenses of an armoured giant.
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Naruto growled as he fired four blasts from his forehead-gem (he really needed to come up with a better name), his blasts removing the ninja's ability to use his limbs. The bag that the ninja had been holding a kunai against fell and Naruto snagged it before it could hit the ground. Holding it in one hand, Naruto managed to loosen the drawstring that held it closed and then reached in, scooping out the girl inside. Her eyes looked at him pleadingly and Naruto bent to scoop up the oddly-curved kunai that the ninja had been wielding before using it to carefully cut through the ropes holding her arms behind her back, then the ones securing her legs. She used her newfound freedom to claw the gag out of her mouth, then she started to cry. Uncertain of what to do, Naruto cradled her against his chest, stroking her hair like he'd once seen a mother do to her daughter.
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Hinata shook with sobs of relief. The man who had tried to kidnap her was lying on the ground, all of his limbs useless and her saviour was holding her, his armoured hand stroking her hair in reassurance.
"Hinata!"
The voice of her father echoed down the alley and Hinata managed to turn her head enough that she could see him running up, three members of the Branch House behind him.
"He gave a package to an old Hyuuga as he left." Her saviour said. "You might want to deal with him."
"Who?" Hiashi snarled, his panic turning into pure rage. "Who sold out the clan?"
"I will show you." The man said. "Bring the ninja and follow me."
Hinata snuggled against the reassuring solidity of his chest.
"Who are you?"
"I am Hiro." The reply came as Hinata felt him start to move. "You are her father?"
"I am." Hiashi confirmed as the two branch members moved to pick up the moaning kidnapper.
"Brother!"
"Brother." Hiashi replied as Hizashi landed next to them. "My daughter is safe, but we have a problem. If what Hiro-san says is true, one of our own betrayed us."
Hinata peeked at her uncle, then at her father. Both of them wore identical expressions of furious resolve and Hinata snuggled back down, knowing that she would be safe.
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"He is the one." Naruto said as he saw a very familiar face.
Hiashi and Hizashi stared at the elder who was looking at them from his window.
"…uncle?" Hiashi finally managed. "Are you sure?"
Naruto activated his alternate vision modes and quickly scanned the room behind the nervous man.
"The package is under his bed."
Hiashi activated his Byakugan, then growled.
"Why?"
The Elder flinched, then turned and sprinted away.
"Take Hinata to her room!" Hiashi commanded as he hurdled the window-sill, Hizashi close behind. Naruto watched them go, then shrugged slightly. Turning, he headed towards the room that he had seen Hinata being taken from. As he did so, the door opened and a woman with dark-green hair popped out.
"Hinata-sama?"
"N… natsu?" Hinata murmured sleepily and the maid dashed over, hovering anxiously, her hands fluttering as she tried to decide whether or not it was a good idea to extract Hinata from the arms of the looming figure holding her. Naruto stepped into Hinata's room and knelt by her bed, carefully lowering her onto the mattress. Hinata let out a tired whine of protest, then sighed in contentment as Naruto began stroking her hair again until she fell asleep.
"Watch over her." Naruto whispered and Natsu nodded.
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Hiashi stood quivering with rage over the paralysed form of his uncle as Hizashi unwrapped the bundle that he had retreived from its hiding place under the elder's futon.
"Brother?"
"It's… not good, brother." Hizashi replied soberly. "Some of the documents… there are a couple of pictures… uncle Hotaro, you wanted to defect? Create a new clan of your own? Poison my wife?"
"Your daughter would have been prime breeding stock." Hotaro sneered. "With the girls I selected as my own, we would have created a clan that would be able to command true respect! I would have been the primary advisor of the Raikage!"
"You… would betray the clan… just for political power?" Hiashi ground out, then he punched down, knocking the older man out.
"What do we do about the Kumo operative?" Hizashi slowly asked. "If we kill him, Kumo will use it against us."
"Hinata's rescuer has destroyed him, cost him his limbs." Hiashi mused. "We should send him back as he is."
"An excellent idea." Hiruzen said from the doorway. "How did he get injured, anyway?"
"Hiro…"
"Hiro?" Hiruzen interrupted. "Tall, odd green/blue armour over his whole body, konoha symbol embedded in his forehead?"
Hiashi nodded slowly. "You… know him?"
"I know of him." Hiruzen admitted. "I have reports from my ANBU, reports that indicate that he was from Uzushiogakure before it fell."
Hiashi turned his attention to Hiruzen.
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Hinata woke slowly, wondering at the dream that she had had. A tall samurai carrying her in his arms through the night, a gem on his helmet flashing brightly…
"Hinata-sama!"
Hinata blinked and rolled over to find Natsu hovering over her.
"Natsu? What…?"
"How do you feel, Hinata-sama?" Natsu fussed. "That person last night, he was quite scary."
"He… was real?" Hinata gasped, her eyes widening.
"Yes, he… Hinata-sama, what do you remember?"
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Naruto smirked as he watched the four Kumo ninjas pass on their way out of the village. Two of them carried a stretcher on which the delegation leader was securely strapped under a blanket, although the bandages wrapped around his shoulders could be easily seen.
The ninjas trotted past and Naruto sighed with satisfaction of a job well done.
A hand tapped his shoulder and Naruto turned to find Inu crouching beside him.
"Uzumaki-san, it is time for the reading lesson you asked for."
Naruto nodded and let Inu carry him away in a shunshin.
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"A samurai stopped you?" the Sandaime Raikage growled at the immobilised ninja. "Since when the hell did Konoha have a samurai on its force?"
"Sir, it's worse than that." One of the Jonin supplied, earning a glare. "The samurai is from Uzushiogakure, sir."
The Raikage turned almost white. "An… Uzumaki?"
"A mainline Uzumaki." The Jonin confirmed. "Uzumaki Hiro, the uncle of Uzumaki Kushina. Believed deceased in the attack on Uzushiogakure, but now proven to be alive and in Konoha."
The Raikage growled. "Could this get any more fucked up?"
"There's another Uzumaki in Konoha, a young one." The Jonin supplied. "We believe that Hiro is training him up to take over using the Uzumaki Armour, armour that can cut down hundreds of shinobi faster than the Yellow Flash did. A ninja trained from a young age in how to use that armour…"
The jonin trailed off and the Raikage let out a howl of fury.
"If Uzushiogakure had acess to armour like that during our attack on them, they'd have devastated our forces completely!" He yelled. "If Konoha is training up its own armour users, if they figure out how to duplicate it… they'll rule the world! It should be us that… that… that…"
The Raikage froze, his face working, then his eyes rolled upwards and toppled over.
"Lord Raikage? Lord Raikage!"
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Hiruzen stared in shock at the newest Bingo Book that his spies had delivered from Kumo. The open page before him raised more questions than it answered.
Uzumaki Hiro
Aka The Sage of Seals, Bandit's Bane, Blade-Breaker, The Samurai-Ninja
Birthplace:- Uzushiogakure
Alignment :- Konohagakure
Age :- 76
Rating :- Kage+ S-class. Flee on sight unless in a group of 12+ Elite Jonins or more (including at least 2 Fuuinjutsu users) in which case engage only if able to ambush.
Reward – 12,000,000 ryo dead, 24,000,000 ryo with armour intact. Do not attempt to take alive.
Description :- Hiro's current appearance is unknown, but he wears a unique full-body suit of fuuinjutsu-enhanced armour, coloured blue/green.
The armour contains a chakra-beam weapon mounted on the forehead as well as two arm-mounted blades that can slice through anything. The armour itself is impenetrable to all known weapons. Unconfirmed reports indicate flight capability.
Tactical Notes:- Hiro is a veteran of the destruction of Uzushiogakure and as such probably holds grudges against Kumogakure, Iwagakure and Kirigakure. In his last confirmed battle, he was able to defend himself against fifty shinobi, killing all but four without the aid of the armour, during which he faked an area-effect suicide technique in order to allow himself to retrieve the armour. For unknown reasons, he was unable to re-enter combat before Uzushiogakure fell.
Hiro is confirmed to act without mercy if any children are threatened. If you wish to have a chance of keeping even one limb intact, take extreme measures to ensure that no children are placed in danger if you suspect his presence.
Confirmed kills – 1,242 bandits, 131 ronin
21 nukenin, 12 genin, 65 chunin, 44 tokubetsu jonin, 49 jonin, 1 kage (Kumogakure)
6 nukenin, 11 genin, 74 chunin, 36 tokubetsu jonin, 35 jonin (Iwagakure)
9 nukenin, 21 genin, 53 chunin, 29 tokubetsu jonin, 27 jonin (Kirigakure)
17 nukenin (Sunagakure)
3 nukenin (Konohagakure)
1 nukenin (Uzushiogakure)
9 nukenin, 23 genin, 16 chunin, 2 tokubetsu jonin, 1 jonin (Other/Unclassified)
Hiruzen looked up at Tenzo, who returned his gaze levelly.
"How did they get this information?"
"Unknown, Lord Hokage." Tenzo replied calmly.
"I believe that there is a leak." Shikaku said from where he was lounging against the wall. "However, that book actually provides us with more information on our mysterious armoured ninja, assuming it is accurate."
"I wonder if he can recreate the armour for us." Hiruzen mused.
"I wonder if we can find him to ask." Shikaku stated. "What if he knows about how young Naruto has been treated by the civilian populace?"
Hiruzen blanched, then returned his attention to the book and frowned.
"How in hell did he manage to kill the Raikage?"
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And here we see the start of the miscommunications and logical mis-steps that will build the legend of Hiro, the Last Shinobi of Uzushiogakure…
And the Raikage thing, well, he did die when being told about the one known as Hiro…
Hey, this is now the second-longest Naruto/Guyver story on the site!