Chapter Six

"The night is quite lovely, isn't it, Byakugan Princess?"

"It would be far nicer if you weren't here."

"You wound me, fair one. I am trying to make conversation."

"I wish I could do more than just harm you."

Hinata Hyūga glared at Toneri with nothing short of raw disgust. She did not enjoy the man's company, remembering their past encounters all too well. She questioned her father's decision to allow the man a spot during the clan's meeting with Naruto. Between Boruto's new friends and recent events within her family, it amazed Hinata that her headache wasn't far worse. Sadly, the moon man's pitiful attempts at friendship or flirting threatened to bring a full-scale migraine attack. The meeting had yet to begin, and she already wished for it to be over.

"I suggest you put some distance between yourself and my daughter." Hiashi's sudden arrival saved her from another round of Toneri. "Lord Hokage should be here any moment, so please take your seats." The elderly man hobbled over to the front of the room and took a seat next to Hanabi. They exchanged a few quiet words before the heiress gestured for Hinata.

"It is only right that you sit with us." Hanabi smiled at her sister. "You might not be the heiress, but you represent the heart of the Hyūga!"

Hiashi smiled at his daughter's words. "Well said, young one. Your station within the Uzumaki Clan does not matter within these halls. You will always be my daughter and welcome by my side. Alas, if only I had believed such things sooner in life."

"The past does not matter, father." Hinata took the seat next to Hiashi with a slight grin. "We are one family now and forever."

"Indeed." Hiashi closed his eyes and sighed. "Lord Hokage has arrived. Elders, I will stress the importance of sociability. These are dark days, and our clan requires friends if we are to survive. Lord Hokage is a powerful ally that is free from the Red Chains."

"Yes, Lord Hiashi." The elders, most of whom were around Hinata's age, bowed. They came from both the main and branch houses, a historic first and a hopeful sign of change in the conservative clan. Hiashi had outlawed the application of the cage bird seal and vowed to unite both sides of the Hyūga into one family.

One of the servants pushed open the screen door to give Naruto entrance into the assembly hall. "Presenting, the Seventh Hokage." He rolled his eyes at the formal display, still disliking the overly polite ways the Hyūga governed themselves. Luckily, after the divorce, the Hyūga never invited him to family gatherings unless they needed something from the village. He suspected that this time was no different but paused upon noticing Toneri.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto pointed at the Ōtsutsuki male with a grin. "You aren't preparing to throw the moon at the world again, are you?"

"Of course not! Apologies for not announcing my presence to you, Naruto. I come as a representative of my people." Toneri dipped his head in respect. "They wanted to be here but are on an important mission right now."

"Representative of your people? I thought your clan was all dead." Naruto glanced at Hiashi in hopes of an explanation. "What's going on?"

"He is representing the Hyuga's allies in the coming days." Hiashi waited for him to take a seat before continuing. "There is corruption poisoning the world right now, Naruto. But, unfortunately, I have turned a blind eye to it for far too long, failing to recognize the taint until it was too late."

Hanabi leaned forward with a more pleasant demeanor. "What are your thoughts on the Church of the Red Goddess? You and Konohamaru went to the festival last night. I heard things got rather heated."

"Heated is certainly a way to put it." Naruto glanced for a glass of water and sighed upon finding nothing. "I am still amazed how I never noticed this group until now. They're crazier than a fox. Their doctrine is apocalyptic to the extreme and barely hides its disdain for any establishment beyond the Church."

"A polite response," Hiashi mused with a smile. "Everything you say here will not be spoken to anyone beyond these walls. But allow me to be far blunter. The Church of the Red Goddess is a cult that seeks to consume the world in fire. They, and the being that controls them, are the single greatest threat our world has ever faced."

Naruto maintained his composure in the face of Hiashi's usual dramatics. "I agree that they are cult-like, but you make it sound like they are actively plotting against all of us." Of course, he had suspicions that the Church's recent conversions were part of a grand scheme, but no one outside his inner circle needed to know that. "Ayame gave me her word that she will tone things down."

"And you believe her?" Hiashi frowned with disappointment. "I expected far more from you. It is beyond me how you could allow those zealots to humiliate yourself last night. Where is the man who can face off against Madara Uchiha? Where is the man who summoned thousands of clones to aid the besieged Shinobi Alliance?"

"That man is trying to avoid a bloodbath." Naruto's face hardened at the accusation of weakness. "What would have happened if I used force against the civilian populace? Such an action would have only increased their zeal and could have caused a full-scale riot. Beyond that, the Daimyo is already looking at Konoha with increased scrutiny due to Sasuke's suicide."

"I agree. Such an action would have played into the cult's theology." Hanabi folded her hands on the table. "Their doctrine speaks of being persecuted by the old-world government. Naruto using physical force could have triggered them into self-fulfilling their prophecies. We must subtly move against the cult to avoid escalating the situation."

"We?" Naruto frowned at the implication that this was a joint effort. "Why does the Hyuga care about the Church? Beyond Boruto, I have not seen any of your number among their ranks."

Hiashi tapped his cane against the table like a judge. "My devotion to Konoha is more than enough for me to care."

Devotion. Naruto fought back the urge to laugh at such a notion.

"Weren't you the same man to threaten to move his clan to Suna during my divorce?"

Silence, even Hinata looking surprised that Naruto would wield such a fact against Hiashi.

"The Church of the Red Goddess is a threat to the village," Naruto admitted, channeling the energies of the past Hokage in hopes of a rousing speech to calm Konoha's most prominent clan. "I am doing everything in my power to ensure that Konoha remains safe and free of the Church's influence. If the need arises, I will call upon your clan to aid me in purging the threat. However, until that time comes, I do not want your clan to start a fight and worsen the situation. Sectarian violence is something that I will not tolerate from anyone, including the Church and the Hyūga." He turned to look at Toneri and gave a sad smile. "Apologies for Lord Hiashi calling you away from your isolation. This is a Konoha matter, and I believe it best if you do not get involved."

Hiashi's collected calm shattered in a fit of rage. "You're making a mistake, boy! Do you honestly believe that Ayame will reign her cult in?"

"I am doing the right thing." Naruto matched the man's anger with a growl. "What do you wish for me to do? March upon the Church and slaughter its members down to the last child?"

"If that is what it takes! No price is too great for survival."

"Father!" Hinata and Hanabi gasped.

Naruto closed his eyes and released a much-needed sigh. He wanted nothing more than to retreat to his office for a well-deserved bottle of sake. "For your sake, Lord Hyūga, I will pretend this part of the conversation never happened. I am ordering you to stand down and leave the matter to me."

Sensing the growing tension building in her father, Hinata decided to shift the conversation. "Boruto is refusing to listen to me about the Church. He believes that you're trying to turn me against him. I have tried numerous things to get him to open up, but nothing seems to work."

"Konohamaru mentioned that he has brought up becoming a priest," Hanabi added with a frown. "He wants to dedicate his existence to the cult."

"Of course he does." Naruto rubbed his temples as a new headache swelled in his skull. Boruto, despite claiming to be an independent thinker, always wanted to be part of a group and feared being the odd one out. In all honesty, this shouldn't have surprised him. His son had the perfect personality to be lured into a cult. For the Church, bringing in the Hokage's son presented a fantastic opportunity to legitimize themselves. Of course, he could intervene and bring his son to heel by force, but that would only feed their desires for persecution.

"Allow it." Hiashi closed his eyes. "It is better to keep your enemies close than at a distance. Boruto has inherited his father's love of gab and could spill vital information."

A good solution mused Naruto. While he would get little from his son, Boruto would run his mouth to Hinata or Himawari, who could relay the information to him. It wasn't as good as a spy, but it gave him access to the inner workings of the Church.

"No! I will not have my son through his life way." Hinata shook her head. "I forbid him from becoming a tool in this fight."

"Aren't we all just tools of Konoha?" Hiashi's stern voice silenced Hinata's protests. "This is for the good of the clan and Konoha. Do you agree, Lord Hokage?"

"I do not like it, but I will not stop you." Naruto avoided Hinata's hurt look in favor of staring at the ceiling. "However, I expect you to hand over any information gained to my ANBU. I will have Panda collect weekly reports from you. Understand?"

"Of course, sir." While far from happy, Naruto could tell that Hiashi had been appeased for the moment. The last thing Konoha needed was a rekindling of the feud between him and the Hyūga. "Hinata, please keep detailed notes on whatever the boy speaks about. Any detail could be important."

"So, I am to spy on my own child?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Just record what he gives without pressuring him. Let him do the hard work." Then, unwilling to continue the meeting nor look upon Hinata's disapproving expression, he decided to leave. "I have paperwork that requires my attention. I assume you can continue without me?"

"Indeed, Lord Hokage. Have a good night."

Naruto closed his eyes and savored the sweet plum wine's melody of flavors on his tongue. While he had promised Shizune and Tenten to stay clear of alcohol, recent events seemed like a valid excuse to bend the promise. He knew when to stop to avoid a repeat of passing out or having one of his underlings discover the few bottles that remained hidden in the office. Despite being drunk half the time, Tsunade certainly knew how to hide things from her assistant. As a token of appreciation, he vowed to take the old woman out for dinner.

"Let's see…budget or patrol reports?"

He glanced down at the scrolls in front of him, debating which one required his attention first. Konoha's budget needed reviewing every other week to ensure the proper allocation of funds to critical departments. The Church of the Red Goddess, and the situation surrounding them, required an increase in propaganda and security. Meanwhile, the academy continued to operate at acceptable efficiency with reduced funding. On the other hand, patrol reports included reports from agents beyond the Land of Fire. Ayame's apocalyptic ramblings about super-weapons concerned him, and he was eager to find out if any of his spies mentioned anything of the sort. No one had been assigned to look for such information, but Naruto knew someone was bound to uncover something soon enough.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Naruto grabbed his cell phone. "Hokage's office. Naruto speaking!"

"Na..ru..to."

"Shikamaru?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the strained voice of his former advisor. He had not expected the man to call, expecting Shikamaru to be upset at the recent reassignment to the academy. The late hour only added to the confusion. "Uh…how can I help you?"

"Naruto…"

"That's my name. Don't wear it out." He forced a chuckle to maintain the illusion of positivity. "What's going on?"

There was a long pause. "Memorial Stone in thirty minutes."

Click. The call ended abruptly.

Naruto tossed the cell phone on the desk and grabbed his jacket. He debated calling Tenten or one of his other guards to escort him to the meeting but decided against it. Few people in the world could match him in raw strength, and none of them lived in Konoha. Yet, despite everything, he still trusted Shikamaru's intelligence to shine through the Church's teaching. He knew the man wouldn't drag him out of the office for nothing. Plus, when was the last time Shikamaru stayed up past nine?

As expected, Shikamaru was waiting for him in front of the large black stone, illuminated by the faint glow of a lantern. He looked like hell despite wearing a clean shinobi uniform. Thick black circles hung low under bloodshot eyes, puffy with tears. Black pustule spots blemished his face, oozing a rancid liquid that filled the air with the scent of rot. Worst of all, lips, once vibrant, had dulled into a grey color as if belonging to a corpse rather than a man still walking. Naruto, horrified at his friend's state, rushed forward but paused when Shikamaru raised a revolver in his direction.

"Don't," the Nara commanded. "I don't know if I am contagious."

"Contagious?" Naruto remembered looking through the files relating to Orchimaru's bio-weapon research. Not even the worst viruses managed to make someone look this awful. "Just lower the gun, Shika. Tell me what's going on." He reached for his cell phone and silently cursed at leaving it behind in his office.

"The Red Goddess' odds of victory are at a stable ninety-nine percent. It has positioned itself well over these past twelve years, managing to stick its tendrils into every nation's government." Shikamaru lowered his revolver slightly. "The Church, through careful conversions and appeals to a disgruntled populace, is estimated to become the dominant religious force on the content within the next six months based on current trends. Unfortunately, though, I doubt the world will last that long."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto tried to inch closer but paused as the gun came back up. "Just need to hear you better, bud."

Shikamaru shook his head and tapped the barrel on the side of his head. "I ran through the scenario over a thousand times, trying different combinations of moves and strategies. Nothing worked. It planned for all possible combinations of situations and reactions. How could anyone hope to outthink that which has thought since before the beginning of time?"

"Give me the gun, Shika." Naruto held out his hand. "Let's get you to the hospital. Does Temari know you're out here?"

Shikamaru's eyes darted up at the mention of his wife. "I made the only winning move for her and Shikadai. Sasuke knew what was going on. He made the winning move."

Naruto felt the color drain from his face at the implication. "Where are Temari and Shikadai?"

"Better oblivion than transcendence." Shikamaru pulled back the hammer on the pistol. "As your advisor, Lord Hokage, I suggest you do what is best for your family and yourself. That is my final council to you, friend. Death is far less troublesome than what it is planning for the world."

"It?"

"The Goddess." Shikamaru put the barrel of the gun against the side of his head. "It calls itself a goddess for our amusement, but gender is a concept too primitive for it. Humans and animals have gender. It is it."

Naruto felt the first tinge of panic set in. He judged the distance between himself and Shikamaru, cursing that he had not managed to close the gap a little more. A shadow clone would likely provoke the man into blowing his brains out onto the memorial stone. "Have you seen this goddess?"

"Transcendence. It seeks to consume and remake us into its own image…something not human." Shikamaru winched as fresh tears rolled down his rotting face. "I am already falling apart. It wants me to forget myself. The whispers are hard to ignore…I cannot allow me to forget me."

Naruto's scream was lost in the echo of the gunshot. Sapphire eyes widened at the bloody remains of his friend's ruined head.

The bullet destroyed much of the right side of Shikamaru's head, exposing bits of skull and brain matter to the night air with minimal damage to the left side of the head. Much to Naruto's horror, Shikamaru did not die and still moved his jaw in an attempt to speak. A waterfall of blood poured from between the withered lips of the man, soaking the flak jacket and undershirt in crimson. The nightmare continued as he ceased trying to speak and opened his mouth wider until the jaw bone snapped utterly free from the base of the skull. The tongue, extended and rounded like the tentacle of an octopus, emerged from the bloody hole to wiggle like a worm in mud. Animalistic terror froze Naruto's legs as human logic gave way to primal fear. Comprehension failed to make sense of the creature being born. The sweet plum wine surged up from his stomach at the sight of Shikamaru's body bulging and twisting in odd angels to form new limbs from broken bones and organs mutated beyond recognition. Two arms split into six boney appendages tipped with claws akin to that of a bat. The thing that used to be Shikamaru raised its head high and bellowed an ear-shattering wail.

What remained of Naruto's sanity reminded him of his duty as Hokage. Determination and courage surged life into his limbs. He took a tentative step backward but stopped upon noticing the thing looking at him through Shikamaru's dulled eyes. Experience urged him to take a cautious initiative against the creature instead of his usual blunt methods. Ten shadow clones appeared around him, each one circling the memorial stone to examine the grotesque monstrosity.

The creature's tongue tendril slithered forward and danced in the air, twitching at the movements of the clones but remaining focused on the original. It remained in place but extended its new limbs to brace for the inevitable assault. Naruto frowned, half-expecting the horror to rush him like an animal instead of displaying intelligence. He prayed that it did not inherit Shikamaru's genius. With a subtle nod, the clones converged on the creature with an impassioned war cry that grew louder as more shadow clones appeared to join the fray.

Naruto frowned as wave after wave of clones rushed forward to battle the creature. Its movement, unhindered by the limited flexibility of the human body, gave it an overwhelming agility that allowed it to counter attacks from all angles. Talon-tipped arms swirled about in broad sweeps that sliced through the clones. Each of the six appendages acted independently from one another but maintained unity in defense. The few clones that managed to land a hit on the creature found their attacks did nothing to slow it down despite damaging the fleshy frame.

"Fuck."

Naruto summoned another batch of clones and surged his chakra in hopes of attracting backup. He watched as another regiment of clones fell in battle, cursing as the creature decided to take the offensive. It barreled through the few remaining clones towards Naruto, who managed to avoid being grappled by the tongue-tendril with a well-timed slice with his kunai. The shivered bit of tongue flopped to the ground, very much alive, and wiggled towards the forest. The horror followed up the attack with all six talon-tipped limbs forcing Naruto to focus solely on avoidance. Tactical options became limited as the creature's frenzy increased, earning a frustrated grunt from him at being unable to regain the attack. He tried to call upon the chakra of Ama or any other tailed beasts but found the connection cold as if it had never existed. Senjutsu required concentration that he could not spare.

A sharp whistle announced the fresh combatant's entry into the fight. Naruto used the creature's hesitation to withdraw out of the range of its appendages and destroyed tongue. He saw the woman, blonde and with the piercing eyes of the Hyūga, emerge from the tree line wielding a long cylinder tipped with flame. She fiddled with a valve on the side of the contraception and aimed the nozzle. A white jet of fire spewed from the end of her weapon, engulfing the creature in a blaze. An inhumane scream echoed into the night. Her attack sputtered after a few seconds.

In an instant, Naruto started to draw upon the natural energy surrounding him. He felt a surge of power through his veins as the world became alive with the life forces of all around him. However, no such warmth radiated from the burning creature, leaving a void in the landscape that chilled his soul. Azure eyes turned orange as pupils elongated. Dozens of clones appeared with a Rasengan at the ready and eager to avenge their fallen brother. Naruto signaled the attack with a cry and led the charge, slamming his twin rasengans into the creature's back. In unison, the clones struck with their own attacks, shredding bits of meat and bone of the beast and severing each of the appendages. With a final blow, the creature dropped to the ground in a pile of gore only vaguely recognizable.

Naruto took a deep breath and allowed the nature energy to dissipate from his body with a sigh of relief. How long had it been since he had a fight of intensity? The woman came forward with her weapon raised. She released another burst of fire onto the creature's remains, consuming what little remained in fresh flame until nothing remained. His mind returned to the imposter priest's description and Tenten's history lesson.

"Hanae Hyūga."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

They exchanged a scrutinizing glare that ended when Hanae extended her hand with a nod of respect. "We have a lot to talk about."

Thanks for the postive reviews from the last chapter.

This was my first real attempt at Naruto fight scene. While I love writing, fight scenes have never been my favorite and the power-scale of Naruto makes it less fun. There is a reason why in most of my fics, I tone down Naruto's powers considerably for the sake of plot.

Cahf ah nafl mglw'nafh hh' ahor syha'h ah'legeth, ng llll or'azath syha'hnahh n'ghftephai n'gha ahornah ah'mglw'nafh. N'gha llll nog nilgh'ri orr'enahh