Hey guys remember me? Yeah I know, it's been forever and you've all had to wait waaaaay too long. I know I'm a dick and suck big time. I'm sorry, I really am. It was hell having to retype this chapter and it didn't help that I had midterms and then spring break, not to mention work. I'll make this short so we can get back to the story. Thank you for the support. It means a lot to read the messages after having such a shitty thing happen and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys rock and you make this entire thing worth it. Now, on to the story! And as always, please let me know what you like/hate!
Previously: Naruto finds out that the person in the hospital bed that plagues his dreams is none other than Hinata. Not only that, she was married to him and was pregnant with their child at the time of her viscous attack and death. Kyuubi then forces Naruto to witness himself spiral out of control until he destroys the village that he has sought to protect for so long. Afterwards Kyuubi insists that if Naruto continues to deepen his relationship with Hinata it will all come to pass. Naruto finds himself lost in despair for a moment before steeling himself and telling the Kyuubi to shove it. After a quick and heated argument, Kyuubi ejects Naruto from the mindscape leaving the fox to his memories. After a moment Kyuubi reveals that what he truly hates is the rain and then mentions Kushina's name as a painful memory surfaces. Meanwhile, Madara informs black zetsu to meet with the contacts in Konoha while he orders white zetsu to keep an eye on Sakura, convinced that she has plans other than just being with Sasuke. Later on at night, Hinata and Naruto share two bottles of sake while the latter finishes his report. It doesn't take long before Hinata finds herself very drunk and making advances towards Naruto who is surprised at the level of boldness. After a missed kiss that ended with Hinata sleeping Naruto finished his report. Later on in the night, Hinata wakes to find herself alone in bed. Wandering to the window she sees Naruto on the roof and goes out to join him. After spending time looking at the stars together, Hinata drifts off to sleep and Naruto carries her back inside and tucks her in. As he does so she says that she loves him in her sleep to which Naruto smiles and says that he knows.
Chapter 19: The Gathering Storm
Naruto slept away in a peacefully state of bliss completely oblivious to the world around him. Drool hung from his open grinning mouth while he snored away loudly, happy to finally get a full night of rest. The moonlight shown through the window and trickled in giving the room a soft silvery glow while a soft breeze rustled the curtains and a cool crisp autumn wind entered the room. However, the breeze was not the only one to do so and the blonde's peace was about to end.
Two shadows suddenly appeared next to Naruto's bedside and peered down at him for a moment, their faces blacked out in the night. One of the shadows looked at the other with an unspoken question and upon receiving a nod they pulled out a rag. Standing there for moment staring at the sleeping blonde, the shadow then shook its head in what seemed like disappointment before suddenly shoving a rag into Naruto's open mouth. Naruto's eyes instantly snapped open but before he could do anything a bag was shoved over his head. Resisting as best he could, Naruto suddenly realized that he couldn't move before he felt a tug on his body that sent his stomach doing summersaults.
As suddenly as he felt it, the tug was gone and Naruto felt himself land hard on what felt like grass. Gagged and completely immobilized, all Naruto could do was wait for his kidnappers to reveal themselves. Hearing what sounded like footsteps approaching him slowly he prepared for whatever might come. When the bag was ungraciously ripped off of his face Naruto felt little relief in identifying who his kidnappers were even though he knew them personally. They're faces glowed in the soft light of the moon as well as another low light that seemed to be emanating from somewhere on his body. Glancing down he saw the reason for his restraint glowing softly on his chest: a paralysis seal.
"Your situational awareness is a joke, Naruto." Renge said coldly as she looked down at the paralyzed blonde.
Finally managing to spit out the rag Naruto yelled back in irritation, "I was sleeping in the hospital! I thought I was safe!"
Renge scowled and smashed her foot down on his chest hard enough to make him cough and wince.
"The only time you should think that you're safe," she whispered as she leaned in to glare at him, "is when you're sleeping in your own home."
Naruto knew she had a point, especially since there was a terrorist organization dedicated to hunting him down. However, he was still upset at being rudely awakened at such an hour and in the most unnecessary way too. However, the Uzumaki matriarch regained his attention as she spoke again.
"Naruto, as a ninja you should be aware of your surroundings. To expect the unexpected and be prepared to react instantly to any surprises thrown at you. However…" she trailed off as she looked up at the stars and her face hardened. "As an Uzumaki you should know your surroundings, see everything, even down to the minutest detail. Nothing should ever catch you flat footed, nothing should ever surprise you."
Looking back down at Naruto with fierce eyes she finished, "That is the Uzumaki clan's pride: to be omniscient. To be surprised would be a sin against the Uzumaki's name, against your very heritage, but most of all it would be a sin against the clan's pride."
Renge paused for a moment and Naruto couldn't help but stare at his grandmother in awe.
"You have your own personal pride and it is honorable Naruto: to never give up and never go back on your word, to protect those precious to you with your very life. That truly is an honorable pride to have." Renge said with a smile.
Her gaze suddenly went distant and her face became soft for a moment before becoming hardened with resolve. "But if you're serious about training under us, to train in the ways of the Uzumaki, then you will be shouldering the pride and honor of the clan as well."
Looking back at the blonde one last time she asked, "Are you ready to accept the pride and honor of the Uzumaki's, Naruto? Are you prepared to accept your name?"
Naruto hadn't even needed to think twice about what she was asking. He was being offered a chance to learn his heritage while training under his own family in the ways of his clan. So what if it was a little more responsibility to shoulder; in his opinion it was worth it.
"I'm insulted you even had to ask." Naruto said with a determined grin.
Renge returned the smile before it suddenly turned dark and sadistic. Turning around Renge began to walk towards Jihibiki while giving out instructions.
"Your training will begin at 4:30 every morning."
"F-Four thirty?" Naruto blanched as he looked at his grandmother in horror.
Renge stopped walking but didn't look back. "Did I stutter?" she asked darkly. "There's a war on the horizon and we need to get you prepared."
Continuing her walk she said, "You will train all day everyday with minimum breaks. We're going to break you, rebuild you, and then break you again."
"You're just going to break me apart?" Naruto asked failing to keep the slight edge of anxiety out of his voice.
"Whether or not you can rebuild yourself the last time is up to you." Renge answered cryptically.
Finally turning to face him she said, "Your training for each day will stop when either you or the sun drops."
Turning to her husband she said, "Jihibiki, you've got him for a week. He's all yours."
Then with a bright flash she disappeared leaving Naruto gaping and Jihibiki shaking his head.
"So dramatic." He muttered to himself before directing his attention to his great grandson who was still trapped in the seal.
"Do you know what that is?" he asked.
"It's a paralysis seal." Naruto answered to which Jihibiki nodded his head.
"And do you know how to release the seal?"
"If I do the correct hand signs then the seal can be released." Naruto answered again.
"Correct, but your trapped and can't move so how will you escape?" Jihibiki asked with a grin.
"Simple really." Naruto said before flaring his chakra. A blue column of chakra burst from his chest where the seal was before it dissolved away and Naruto stood up.
"Good, so you know that a seal can be released if it is overloaded with enough chakra." Jihibiki said happily clapping his hands together. "However, only ninja with very large chakra reserves can usually accomplish this."
"Yeah I know the basics." Naruto said with a smirk. "Ero-sennin taught me a little bit about seals when we were traveling around for those three years."
"That's perfect since it will speed up this whole process then." Jihibiki said as he reached into his robes. Pulling out a small, flat, wooden box he tossed it to Naruto.
"Put these on." he instructed. "One for each limb"
Naruto caught the box and opened it to see four silver bracelets inside. Looking closely at them he noticed the kanjis for "suppress", "seal", and "weight" inscribed into the metal. Naruto looked up at Jihibiki in suspicion, but after getting an encouraging nod from the elder he shrugged and put them on. As soon as the last bracelet was clasped around his wrist Naruto saw Jihibiki make the ram sign and then the kanji for "seal" glowed bright red for a moment.
Suddenly Naruto felt like he had lost all strength and dropped to his hands and knees. "W-What the hell?!" he asked in surprise.
Jihibiki, however, ignored him and said happily, "Come along Naruto we have your warm-ups to do!"
Turning and walking away he spoke while rubbing his hands together. "Oh you and I are going to have so much fun!"
Unfortunately, Naruto failed to see the crazy grin that had begun to spread across his grandfather's face.
As the sun began to peak over the tree filled horizon of Konoha and rise into the early morning sky so did Hinata's eyes, which then proceed to snap shut again. Hinata lay in bed for a moment trying to let her eyes adjust to the offending light before she sat up slowly. This proved to be a horrible mistake on her part because as she did she was slammed with the full brunt of her hangover. Hinata bit back a moan of pain as the piercing headache split into her skull and forced herself to ignore the urge to vomit.
"I keep saying never again and yet I continue to do it…I think I have a problem." Hinata thought miserably.
Looking across from her she noticed that Naruto wasn't in his bed or even in the room for that matter. The sheets had already been changed and the bed had been made by a nurse which meant that Naruto had most likely checked out. Glancing to the side of her bed she noticed a glass of water already poured on her night stand along with two red pills and a small card. Picking up the card with a shaky hand her eyes quickly read the brief message.
Take them both and you'll feel right as rain in no time.
Hinata didn't know who it was from or what the pills were for that matter but she didn't care. Quickly picking up the pills she popped them in her mouth and washed them down with some water. Sitting back in her bed Hinata closed her eyes and continued to sip on her water. She stayed in that position for a few minutes until she heard the slightest of movements next to her bed. Opening her eyes and looking over to her side, Hinata could help but scream in shock and surprise at seeing Renge sitting down next to her.
"Well," Renge said with a smirk that seemed to crack across her weathered face, "at least you have more awareness than my grandson."
"R-Renge-sama, w-what are you doing here?" Hinata asked confused.
"Oh I just wanted to see how you were doing sweetie since I'll be training you first." Renge said with a smile.
"O-Oh." was all Hinata could say.
"Oh relax dear; I'm not going to bite!" Renge said exasperatedly while waving her hands in the air.
This action seemed to lighten Hinata up as it reminded her of something Naruto would do, and she had to bring a hand up to her mouth to suppress a giggle.
"She acts just like him." Hinata thought inwardly with a smile.
"What's so funny?" Renge asked somewhat offended at thinking Hinata was laughing at her.
"Nothing Renge-sama." Hinata answered innocently.
Renge didn't seem to buy it and folded her arms and squinted at her as if she was a puzzle to solve.
This only caused Hinata to burst into laughter, her light voice floating up and down in a melody of happiness.
"Oh yes, they are definitely family." Hinata thought.
"It's nothing Renge-sama, really." Hinata said in a placating manner in hopes of calming the Uzumaki elder down. "You just remind me of Naruto-kun."
Renge squinted at Hinata for a moment longer earning another giggle from the Hyuuga heiress before breaking out in a smile.
"Yes, he most certainly is an Uzumaki." Renge said proudly. Turning her attention to the bluenette she then got a sly smile on her face. "Those pills did the trick I see. Glad you are managing to bounce back after such an eventful night."
Hinata was taken aback by what Renge said at first, and then surprised when she realized her hangover had seemingly and magically disappeared.
"What was in those pills?" Hinata asked slightly concerned now at what she had just put into her body.
"Oh just a little something I came up with over the years: salts for the hangover, some pain killers for headache, antacid for the stomach, ginseng to speed up the process." Renge said with a shrug. "A few miscelanous drugs…" she muttered as an afterthought with a smirk.
"Thank you Renge-sama," Hinata said with a grateful smile while doing her best to ignore the after comment. "But how did you know that I was…um…w-well feeling ill?"
Renge chuckled at Hinata's shyness but answered. "Oh Naruto-kun insisted that I check up on you since he couldn't. He said you would probably be feeling a little down in the dumps today."
Hinata blushed at the thought of Naruto being concerned for her and sending someone to check on her. However, it paled in comparison to what she looked like when the memories of what she had said and done the night before came flooding back.
"Oh my god…" Hinata thought as her vision began to blur. "What was I thinking saying that?!" she asked herself remembering what she had said to Naruto.
Her blush then deepened tenfold.
"What was I thinking doing THAT?!" She asked herself even more panicked remembering how she sauntered over and climbed into bed with him.
Hinata's world screeched to a halt though as her last memory hit home.
"W-We a-almost k-k-kiss-ed!" Hinata realized as her eyes widened in shock, joy, and horror.
Renge was rather glad she had decided to visit the young Hyuuga heiress since it was proving to be most entertaining. The most entertaining part so far was watching Hinata go through fifty different shades of blush. However, she was quickly proven wrong when the girl's eyes suddenly widened and then rolled to the back of her head before falling back against her pillow into unconsciousness.
"Boy does she got it bad for you, Naruto." Renge whistled out with a chuckled.
Making herself comfortable Renge waited for Hinata to awaken so she could explain her plan for the girl's future training.
Hiashi looked up when he heard a knock at his office door. He was about to say enter, but before the words could even leave his throat the door slid open and Akesuke stepped quickly and then shut and locked the door. One look towards Hiashi was all he needed to get the message across. Narrowing his eyes, Hiashi placed his hands on the desk and activated the privacy seals for the room.
"What happened?" Hiashi asked cutting right to the chase.
"From what I heard the elders are planning something, something big." Akesuke said hurriedly as he took a seat.
"Do you know when this plan is supposed to be put into action?" Hiashi asked.
"At the end of this month." Akesuke answered.
Suddenly Hiashi felt as if a huge weight had been set onto his shoulders. He sagged forward and propped himself up on his desk with his elbows as he rubbed his eyes. Things were starting to spiral out of control.
As if Akesuke was reading his mind he asked, "What are we going to do, Hiashi?"
Hiashi let out a sigh that seemed to bear the weight of the world on it. "We have to go see Tsunade-sama. It's time we informed her of these transgressions and then ask for her support."
Akesuke nodded gravely in agreement. "There's one other thing you should know. The elders met with a contact that was not from this village."
Hiashi hated to admit it but that bit of information surprised him. He knew the elders were planning something, it was the whole reason that he had asked for Akesuke's help in the first place. But to learn that the elders were seeking outside help made the situation much more serious than what he originally thought.
"Do you have any idea who it was?" Hiashi asked.
Akesuke shook his head. "No, I don't. If I could actually get into the meetings then maybe I could identify who it was they are meeting with. Until then, we are in the dark."
Hiashi's eyebrows furrowed together as he thought. He needed Akesuke to gain the elders trust but he refused to give up the scroll that held their interest. As he thought, his hand aimlessly wandered to the hidden draw that contained the picture of his family before they were torn apart, a habit that he had developed when he became overly stressed. Suddenly a light went off in Hiashi's head and he gave Akesuke a smirk.
Seeing the smirk Akesuke let out a chuckle. "This ought to be good."
Hiashi's smirk only grew bigger. "Listen carefully, here's what you're going to do."
Neji walked through the streets of Konoha with his mind lost in thought after just finishing up at the Interrogation Department. The reason for this current state of mind? Neji was trying to solve the mystery that was Karin. There was something about the girl that just didn't quite fit. Something that he knew he was over looking but was right in front of his face screaming at him. Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing Neji cleared his mind and started from the beginning on what he knew.
The interview for the day had gone better than expected. For the first few minutes Karin had been uncooperative but he could tell that was because she was feeling vulnerable and didn't want to be used again. After a little bit of coaxing and a few reassuring words that left Karin blushing furiously and stuttering she finally spilled everything. Neji took a moment to smirk at the image of Karin looking down while blushing and trying to say a coherent sentence.
"You're almost as bad as Hinata-niisan, but I like it." he thought before stopping mid step and blinking.
Pushing aside the thoughts Neji continued on towards the newly constructed Hokage tower. Karin had told him everything that had happened since she had left Orochimaru and joined Sasuke's team, all the way up to when he tried to kill her at the bridge and was somehow saved. Neji had an idea as to how the red head managed to survive even with a gaping hole in her chest. He had to give credit to Sakura on that one, no doubt that the girl had put Karin in a near death state to preserve her life for as long as possible. However, a normal person would have still bled out by the time she was able to make it back to the village and Neji was suspicious of how Karin managed to make it, even with a blood pill.
"No doubt she has the vitality to stay alive if that mouth of hers is any indication." Neji thought as a side comment but then froze for the second time in less than a minute.
"Loud mouth, red hair, vitality…" Neji thought as his eyes narrowed and it all started to come together.
"It can't be…can it?" he asked himself.
Turning on his heels, Neji headed straight back to the Interrogation Department.
Karin was sitting in her cell thinking about everything she had said during her earlier interrogation and berating herself for giving up the information so easily.
"Baka! Now they have no more use for you! It's going to either be execution or life in prison now…"
Pulling her knees up to her chest for comfort she stared off into space contemplating on whether or not she should even attempt an escape.
"I'm in the center of a village. Even with my ability to sense others, I probably wouldn't even make it very far if the whole village was looking for me. Especially with those Hyuugas here." Karin thought bitterly.
"Damn you Neji! This is all your fault! I'll probably never see you or the light of day ever again now that you have what you want." Karin thought miserably as tears threatened to spill over.
"Why did I tell you everything?!" Karin asked herself desperately.
It was at that point that a blush spread across her face.
"It's because of those damn eyes and that smile…who knew that's all it took." Karin thought as her blush increased a little and she pulled her legs closer to body.
"Of course he did save my life…" Karin added as an afterthought and suddenly a light bulb went off in her head.
"Yes that's it! That's why I care about him, or at least I think I do. He saved my life and now I feel like I owe him." Karin reasoned. "I don't really care about him; I'm just feeling a connection to him because he saved me!"
"Hello Karin-chan, am I interrupting anything?"
Karin's head snapped up and her blush instantly darkened. She had been so lost in thought she hadn't even heard him enter her cell.
"N-Neji-kun?! W-What are you doing here?" she asked confused as to why he would visit her outside of interrogation.
"Yeah,don't care about him, huh?" Karin added as an afterthought while internally rolling her eyes at herself.
Neji just gave her a small smile. "I was hoping to learn a little more from you."
Karin couldn't help it as her lips puckered out in a pout. "I already told you everything I know!"
"And here I thought he just wanted to see how I was doing." Karin thought dejectedly.
"No, no, I'm not here for that." Neji said with a slight chuckle at seeing Karin's pout. "I'm here because I want to learn a little more about you."
To say Karin was shocked would have been an understatement. Her mouth went slack as she just gapped at Neji in shock.
"Y-Y-You want to k-know about me?!" Karin managed to get out as she stared on incredulously.
Neji smirked and shook his head. "Your mouth, Karin-chan."
Karin was confused for a moment until she realized her mouth was still open and snapped it shut before cover it with her hands.
"Sorry." Was all she managed to squeak out eliciting another chuckle from the Hyuuga.
"It's okay Karin-chan," Neji said moving to sit down next her but at a comfortable distance, "but is it so hard to believe that I care?"
"N-No!" Karin said quickly and then looked down with a blush.
"What did you want to know about me?" she asked shifting a little on her bed.
"Well for starters, I was hoping you could tell me where you grew up." Neji answered.
Karin went quiet and her eyes grew distant. For the longest time Neji thought she wasn't going to answer. Just as he was about to tell her she didn't have to say anything if she didn't want to she broke the silence.
"I…don't really know where I'm from." Karin said softly. "I know it was in the Land of Fire …somewhere on the coast…but I don't remember where or what the name of the village was."
Looking over to Neji she gave a weak smile. "I wish I could tell you more Neji-kun, but that's all I really remember."
Neji returned her smile with an understanding one. "It's okay Karin-chan, I was just curious."
After a moment of thought he asked another question that had been eating at the back of his mind.
"Were you an orphan when you lived in the village?" Seeing the pained look on her face he quickly added, "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. Please, forgive my intrusion."
Karin shook her head. "It's okay." Her eyes then shifted to the wall in front of her. "I wasn't an orphan when I lived in the village. I remember…I remember I had a father and mother as well as a younger brother…but that's all I can remember…"
Karin's soft voice trailed off as tears began to form in her eyes. Neji didn't know what to do or even say on the subject so he opted for asking another question.
"What happened?"
"I don't really know…again…" Karin said miserably. "I remember playing near the beach one day with some friends when I felt a really large presence of chakra coming towards the village. Of course back then I didn't know what chakra was all I knew was that something big was coming. I got really scared so I ran up the beach and into the woods and hid until it was all gone. When I returned…everyone was missing or…or dead."
Karin once again fell into silence but Neji's mind was turning as he processed what he had heard.
"Karin-chan," Neji said softly, "how old were you when this happened?"
"Four." Karin whispered, barely audible. "No wait, that's not right…I was five."
Neji nodded his head and went back to his thoughts as he could see Karin wasn't going to say anything any time soon. They stayed there together sitting in silence for several minutes before Karin's face scrunched together and she broke the quiet atmosphere.
"It's so frustrating." Karin said angrily as tears began to form again in her eyes.
"What is?" Neji asked, surprised by the amount of concern in his voice.
"They're there, I know they're real, and I know what I felt…that love and happiness…it was all real." Karin put her hands up to her chest and rested them over her heart as she began to hyperventilate.
"But whenever I try, every time I try to remember what they looked like…every time I try to picture their faces I just…I just can't!"
Karin's hands were now balled tightly into fists and shook with frustration and anguish. She was so emotionally out of it that she barely noticed it when Neji placed his hands gently on top of hers. Looking up with tears in her eyes, a blush dusted her cheeks as she met the soft yet intense gaze of the Hyuuga.
Reaching up slowly to give her time to stop him, Neji rested his hands on her cheeks and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.
"I'm sorry." Neji said softly. "I didn't mean to make you upset like this. We don't have to talk about it anymore; I was just hoping to learn more about you."
"I-It's not y-your fault." Karin said meekly but enjoying the comfort of Neji's hands on her cheeks.
"No, it is." Neji said shaking his head. "I brought up painfully memories because of my own selfish desire to learn more about you."
Once again Neji found himself lost in Karin's eyes. Her red orbs pulling him in as he sat there holding her face in his hands. It wasn't until after several moments of silence that Neji realized his close proximity to her and broke his gaze and stood up.
"I should be going." He said quickly, turning away quickly to hide the slight blush.
Neji didn't make it a step before he felt a soft hand slip into his and clutch on desperately. Looking back he saw Karin staring at him with tears streaking down her face.
"Please." She asked quietly. "Please stay just a little while longer. I…I don't want to be alone right now."
For once in his life Neji found himself at a loss for words. Staring into the tear stricken red orbs he knew that no matter what he wanted to do he wouldn't be able to tell her no.
Not trusting his voice, Neji opted to nod a yes and sat back down next to her. Karin seemed to hesitate for a moment not sure what to do but quickly decided that she wanted the comfort. Diving in and wrapping her arms around his chest, Karin clung to him desperately as she cried quietly. Neji found himself instinctively wrapping his arms around the fragile redhead and could feel her instantly calm down. Within minutes Karin was sleeping away peacefully in his arms and for once Neji felt at peace as well. However, the look on Neji's face would say anything but that. Instead it was scrunched into a scowl as he felt an internal battle taking place.
"This is a problem, I've become attached to her." Neji thought as he frowned. "If anyone finds out about this it could become problematic for both of us."
A soft snore directed his attention back to his chest and he couldn't help it as his frown was replaced with a smirk at what he saw: a beautiful redhead sleeping on his chest and the side of her face mashed up causing her glasses to sit at an odd angle.
"What are you getting yourself into Neji?" He asked himself with a sigh.
In a dark office lit up by monitor screens a large muscular built man frowned as he stared at one monitor in particular. Still staring at the screen the man unfolded his arms and pushed the call button on a speaker.
"Yes, sir?" A voice responded through the P.A. system.
"Tell Morino Ibiki that I have something he needs to see." The man replied as his frown deepened.
"Yes sir, right away Warden."
"That's enough for now Naruto-kun, let's take a break." Jihibiki said as he walked over to a tree and sat down.
Naruto's only response was to raggedly gasp for breath. How long had he been doing "warm-ups"? What time was it? Would there be more? All these questions raced through his head as he crawled towards the old man.
"Tch, you're just as dramatic as Renge." Jihibiki said rolling his eyes at Naruto's broken form. "All we did was warm up!"
"Bull…Shit…" Naruto gasped out in between desperate breaths of air.
The truth was that the "warm-ups" were the furthest thing from that. One thousand sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and laps around the training field didn't sound like much, but when you had to do it none stop with your chakra sealed, well that was an entirely different story. Naruto was pretty sure he even blacked out at some point towards the end and just was on autopilot. How Lee did this on a regular basis Naruto would never understand. Then again, he was fairly certain even Lee would be sweating and gasping for breath at the end of their little "warm-ups."
Jihibiki simply chuckled as he plopped down and with a wave of his hands a basket appeared full of food and drinks. Reaching in, he grabbed a rice ball and then offered it to Naruto.
"Rice ball?" he asked innocently to which the blonde suddenly turned green and turned his head away.
"Just…want…water!" Naruto panted out.
Jihibiki shook his head but reached for a glass and poured him some water.
"You'll never get your energy back if you don't eat." He chastised.
Naruto ignored him and took the water taking a huge gulp and then dumping the rest of the ice water on his head.
"Ahhhh, much better." He said with a relieved sigh and rolled over only to feel a sharp pain in his backside.
"Ouch! What the hell?" he shouted in confusion causing Jihibiki to look at him questioningly.
Reaching back behind him, Naruto realized that whatever was stabbing him was in his pocket. Slipping his hand into it, he felt a smooth surface meet his fingers. Utterly confused he grasped the object and pulled it out only to be met with a bright, red, glittering brilliance. His face scrunched up in confusion as to what he was holding before the answer dawned on him.
"This is that diamond stuff Jihibiki-ji used in his jutsu." Naruto realized.
"Huh, I forgot I had this in my pocket." Naruto said as he inspected the stone.
Naruto glanced at Jihibiki and saw him staring intently at the stone as if he was perplexed by the diamond.
"What's up Jiji? You made this stuff but you look just as surprised and confused as I am." Naruto joked.
Jihibiki eyed the stone carefully but answered. "Let me see the diamond Naruto."
Naruto cocked his head slightly in confusion but shrugged and handed the stone over. Almost instantly the diamond's red glow dimmed as soon as it left his figure tips. Both men froze; Naruto stared at the stone in shock and Jihibiki's eyes narrowed. Moving the stone closer to him, Jihibiki watched as the further away it moved from Naruto the dimmer the red light grew.
"Whoa, is it supposed to do that?" Naruto asked, mesmerized by the diamond.
Jihibiki almost didn't hear him he was staring so intently at the stone in his hand. When he did answer his voice sounded distant.
"No…no it's not supposed to do that at all." Jihibiki said as his eyes narrowed for a moment. "Hmm, I wonder…"
Taking the stone, Jihibiki moved the stone towards Naruto. Instantly the stone began to brighten more and more the closer it moved towards the blonde. Pausing for a moment just in front of Naruto, Jihibiki then moved it down his chest and the stone grew even bright. By the time it was hovering above Naruto's stomach the diamond was glowing such an intense bright red color it was nearly impossible to look at it directly.
At this point Naruto's eyes narrowed as well and he looked up at his grandfather. "You think this may be a reaction to Kyuubi's chakra?"
"I think that's exactly what it is." Jihibiki said with a nod.
"From the looks of it; the closer the diamond gets to you, the brighter it glows. Most likely the diamond is now infused with demonic chakra." Jihibiki continued as he handed the stone back to Naruto.
Naruto nodded and then a question struck him. "Hey jiji, is this stuff worth much?"
"Oh?" Jihibiki said raising an eyebrow. "Plan on pawning it off now?"
"No, no, nothing like that. Just curious really." Naruto said shaking his head.
"Well…" Jihibiki hummed out as he took a thinking pose. "That stuff usually goes for hundreds of millions of ryo, but with the demonic chakra infused in it, it very well could be priceless now. I've never seen that happen before."
Jihibiki looked over at Naruto to see him gawking at the stone.
"M-Millions of ryo?" Naruto stuttered out.
"Hundreds of millions." Jihibiki corrected with a chuckle.
"Why is it worth so much?" Naruto asked confused tearing his eyes away from the stone.
"Well that's an easy question to answer; it is real diamond after all." Jihibiki said with a shrug.
"Yeah but it's not that big to be worth hundreds of millions of ryo." Naruto retorted.
"True," Jihibiki said with a nod, "but it's not normal diamond."
Seeing Naruto thoroughly confused now he elaborated.
"The Diamond Prison jutsu is a forbidden jutsu. The reason it has that classification is because of three conditions: the large amount of chakra required for it to be completed successfully as well as the huge strain put on the body."
Naruto nodded at this. "Yeah, I remember you were pretty exhausted and bloodied up after doing that one jutsu."
"Exactly." Jihibiki said with a nod.
"So what's the last requirement? You only mentioned two." Naruto asked.
"The last component that makes this jutsu forbidden is also what makes the stone extremely rare." Pointing to the stone he continued, "To complete the jutsu the user must take a portion of their life force and put it into the stone."
"Say what?" Naruto said incredulously.
Looking between the diamond and his grandfather he raised an eyebrow and pointed at Jihibiki and then to the glowing red diamond. Jihibiki chuckled at the antics but nodded his head.
"Damn," he blew out sitting back against the tree. "That's a steep price to pay."
Jihibiki nodded grimly at this.
"But why is it glowing red like this?" Naruto asked holding the precious stone and staring at it. "How did the Kyuubi's chakra become infused with it?"
"Hmm, I have a theory on that." Jihibiki said.
Once he saw he had Naruto's focus he continued. "I believe that since my life force was used to make the diamond, when it was forming around Hinata-chan the demonic chakra attached to it and fused itself with the diamond. Because diamond is naturally strong and reinforced further with my chakra and life force, the demonic chakra is trapped in there with nowhere to go."
"So this stone is kinda like a mini jinchuriki." Naruto said returning his gaze to the stone.
Jihibiki was taken by surprise for a moment at the simplistic summation of his theory.
"To sum it all up, yes." He said with a chuckle and a nod.
Naruto smirked and tossed the stone up in the air watching it dim as it went higher and higher and then brighten more as it descended and he caught it.
"I kinda like this thing." He said absent mindedly as he tossed the stone up again. "It's like the thing is a part of me."
Jihibiki watched his great grandson toss the stone up and nodded at what he said. "It most certainly is a part of you now. In fact, I doubt I could manipulate it now."
Naruto caught the diamond and cocked his head at Jihibiki. "What do you mean?"
"Forbidden Combination Jutsu: Diamond Prison." Jihibiki muttered as he flashed through the hand signs.
A small glittering ball of diamond seemingly formed out of nowhere in his hand. Forming the ram sign with his other hand, Naruto watched in fascination as the sparkling ball suddenly shifted and morphed into a magnificent glittering snowflake.
"That's amazing." Naruto said breathlessly.
Jihibiki nodded and then looked at the stone in Naruto's hand, focusing and making the ram sign once again. Naruto watched as the diamond he held pulsed and vibrated for a moment and then went still.
"It's just as I suspected." Jihibiki said.
Looking back at Jihibiki, Naruto watched as his grandfather released the hand sign and the other diamond seemed to turn to liquid and absorb back into his skin.
"The diamond is no longer under my control." Jihibiki further explained. "My chakra and life force may create the shell that contains the demonic chakra inside, but the heart and soul of that diamond belongs to you now Naruto-kun."
"Sweet! Can you teach me the jutsu and how to manipulate this?" Naruto asked excitedly.
Jihibiki took a contemplative thinking pose and hummed for a moment.
"I could teach you I guess," Jihibiki said thoughtfully. "But…" he trailed off.
"But Renge-baachan would kill you right?" Naruto said disheartened.
"Actually, no." Jihibiki said surprising Naruto.
Seeing his confusion Jihibiki reached into his robes pulled out a rope necklace. At the end of the necklace was a sparkling diamond that took the detailed shape of a mountain.
"The Diamond Prison jutsu is only forbidden to those outside the Uzumaki clan. When Uzushiogakure was still standing it was a rite of passage to learn the jutsu if any member of the clan wished to become a shinobi."
"I find it hard to believe that a genin could pull that jutsu off." Naruto said apprehensively.
"Ah we had no such thing back in the day." Jihibiki said with a laugh. "Children were trained vigorously until they were at the level of chunin. The final test was to go to another village and participate in the chunin exams. Judging on how they did in the exams would determine whether or not they would become chunin."
Then waving his hand he said. "But we're getting off track here, back to the story of the jutsu. While learning the jutsu was a rite of passage, mastering the jutsu was a whole other entity."
"How so?" Naruto asked.
"It's customary in our clan for the man to give the woman he is engaged to or courting a gift made out of the Diamond Prison jutsu. It was said that the greater the detail of the technique, the greater the love the man held for the woman."
Naruto's eyes widened at this and couldn't help but feel a rush; a sense of excitement at learning an insignificant story about his clan's culture. Probably at that particular moment, Naruto for the first time ever found himself interested in history. His history.
"I can see the significance in giving a gift like that to someone special." Naruto said with a soft nod. "Giving someone precious to you a stone that's just as precious and infused with your own life force as well…" He trailed off for a moment and then smirked. "I'm not that experienced in the love department but even I can say that's pretty romantic."
Jihibiki chuckled at this and nodded. "Yep, we were commonly known as the clan of longevity but we were also known as the clan of intimacy and romance."
"So why do you have one then?" Naruto asked. "Does the woman give you a diamond too?"
Jihibiki shook his head. "No, that's the thing about the gifts being special. It's a couple's gift; one worn by the man and the other half worn by the woman."
Pointing at the base of the mountain, Naruto noticed that there was a hole. "This hole is where Renge's other half would fit. It signifies that one is not complete without the other, both are needed to be whole."
Naruto nodded in understanding but then a thought occurred to him.
"Shouldn't the woman make a half for the man infused with her own life force then?"
"Nope." Jihibiki answered shaking his head. "It was the Uzumaki's belief that the man should sacrifice mind, body, and soul for the woman he loved and that she shouldn't have to waste her precious life force on things like a piece of jewelry." His eyes narrowed a bit. "She would need every drop for giving birth later on."
"Besides," Jihibiki added as an afterthought. "It would be a little difficult to surprise the woman you love with a proposal if she helped make the damn thing."
He chuckled and paused for a moment in thought before looking at Naruto.
"So, what are you gonna do for that little Hyuuga princess?" Jihibiki asked with a wink.
"L-Let's just f-focus on our clan!" Naruto shouted out as best he could with his stutter and crimson blush.
Jihibiki laughed at him but rolled his eyes at the same time. "I supposed I can teach you how to do the Diamond Prison jutsu this week on one condition."
Looking at Naruto with serious hardened eyes he spoke. "You always recall the jutsu after you've done it and you don't attempt the manipulation part until after you've spent the week training with Renge."
Naruto could tell Jihibiki was serious. The happy energetic air that usually accompanied the aged Uzumaki was gone, lost in a serious atmosphere that had suddenly fallen around them. It amazed him that his grandfather could go from childish one second to dead serious the next as if it was as simple and easy as giving the time of day.
Swallowing, Naruto nodded his head. "I promise to do this your way Jihibiki-ji."
And just like that the switch flipped and Jihibiki was back to all smiles.
"Wonderful!" he said cheerily as he clapped his hands causing Naruto to sweat drop at the seemingly bipolar senior.
"Oh my, we have been resting for too long! Back to training!" Jihibiki hollered as he stood up and pointed out to the field.
Naruto groaned as he put the diamond back in his pocket and forced himself to his feet.
"At least we're working on jutsu now." he grumbled to himself as he shuffled out to the training field.
"Oh trust me Naruto-kun," Jihibiki said with an evil grin. "By the end of the week you'll be looking forward to warm-ups and dreading jutsu practice."