This is my first story. Don't hate for no reason. Will take fair criticism though.
I do not own Naruto or anything related. That goes to Masashi Kishimoto
CHAPTER 14
Team 8 was huddled together in a circle going through all their final checks. Waiting until night time they were going to use the darkness to their advantage.
"Clones?"
"Moving into position." Naruto responded
"Water seal?
"Prepped."
"Communication seal?"
"Effective." Shino stated.
"Alright then, this is combat so everyone removes their restriction seal. We can't be handicapped." After everyone cancels it Kurenai nods, "Hinata, Naruto, you can go."
Naruto quickly applied the invisibility, noise canceling, and seal counter seals.
Over the comms Naruto asks "Who can see me?"
While Kurenai and Shino responded negatively, Hinata was still able to see him even without the Byakugan.
"And without the comms, who can hear me?"
This time only Hinata could hear him.
"Alright Hinata lets go."
Though Naruto and Hinata were not visible or audible they still kept to the shadows to avoid confrontation. Hinata activated her byakugan and looked around and spotted a hut with a lot of prisoners.
Hinata whispered, "I think I found her, follow me."
Still silent they stalked over to the hut. And entered only when someone else opened the door. Inside they had found dozens of women in cages of a range of ages. All of them dressed in rags, a hollow, broken look in their eyes. Hinata became explosively angry and was about to blow their cover when Naruto quickly jumped in, "Hey, don't worry we'll save them all, but Katsuko is our main focus."
Looking through the cages they found their target so Naruto quickly applied all three seals and unlocked her cage. But Katsuko slightly jumped in surprise at seeing two new people.
"Who are you two?" She asked, scared.
Hinata softly responds, "We are here to save you. Will you trust us?"
The girl nods hopefully, "Okay! Thank you so much."
Silently the two genin exit the tent. Naruto makes a clone that carries the little girl.
Naruto takes a deep breath and asks Hinata, "Are you ready?"
Taking a deep breath of her own, Hinata responds, "As r-ready as I'll ever be."
Naruto places the seal on the floor below his feet, goes through the hand seals. Just as he finished he stomped on the water seal, activating it and making all the water rush out. Raising his arms he manipulates the water to rise in a pillar all around them. Katsuko and Hinata look up at the thousands of kiloliters of water surrounding them in awe. Reaching over 50 meters in height, all the bandits looked at the water pillar in confusion. Naruto drops his arms pointing them outward and the pillar collapses in on itself and rushes out in all directions.
-with Kurenai and Shino-
Watching the water fall Kurenai shouts to Shino, "That's our queue. Kill any bandit you see as efficiently as possible." Shino only nods as they run into battle.
-with Naruto and Hinata-
Naruto left a gap above their heads so that the weight of the water didn't crush them. He also made sure the water did not touch any of the prisoners in the tent behind him. But once the water was low enough the clone holding Katsuko jumped out and ran towards the group clones made to protect her.
When Naruto receives the memories of the clone meeting all the others he shouts, "Im evaporating the water, get ready to attack!"
With a snap all the water instantly evaporated leaving behind many crushed corpses but a few panting men attempting to regain their breath from being tossed around in the water. Naruto quickly threw kunai straight into the necks of any bandit nearby. With her Byakugan still active she runs up to every bandit she sees closeby dodges any attack they might throw at her then gives a quick jyuken strike to the chakra core. At long range Naruto throws kunai into the head, neck, or heart of any bandit he sees. If a bandit happens to get too close to him, he electrocutes them with a Rai Tenohira. And anytime Hinata begins to get overwhelmed, he carefully throws a kunai with an explosive tag to give her some room quickly.
'I hope Kurenai and Shino are doing well, because me and Hinata are doing just fine,' Naruto thought.
They continued like this, ignoring the bodies that began to pile up around them. But as Naruto threw a kunai at another bandit a few meters away, out of the corner of his eye he saw Hinata flinch, and slow down. She slowed down just enough for a bandit to get behind her but just as the man was about to slice her head off, a well placed shuriken killed him before he hurt her.
Running over to her, Naruto asks, "What's wrong?"
Hinata stares northwest, "A ninja."
Naruto shakes his head, "There shouldn't be any. Only bandits."
"W-well there is. And he looks angry because he's heading straight for us."
"Chakra capacity?"
"Low Jonin, about the same Kurenai-sensei"
Naruto blanched, "ETA?"
"Three minutes"
Naruto immediately called for Kurenai using the seal, "Kurenai-sensei we need help!"
"What's wrong?"
"Low Jonin level ninja on a warpath straight for us, ETA 3 minutes."
"I can't get there for at least 5 minutes. Try to hold out for as long as you can."
Naruto quickly turns to a scared Hinata, "We are going to have to hold him here for at least two minutes."
"B-but he's a j-jonin w-we are only g-genin."
Naruto gives a confident smile, "Don't worry we got this. Let's be optimistic, he might just be a chunin with big reserves. Deactivate your byakugan for not the next minute. But reactivate them a minute before he arrives." Quickly Naruto makes two shadow clones that pick up the old water seal and run off.
"W-where are they g-going?"
"Just to get us some water for our jutsus. Now stand up, we have to show a facade of confidence, maybe he'll underestimate us that way."
For a minute they just waited there, preparing themselves for the fight. When Hinata reactivated her byakugan she only saw Naruto, the ninja roughly thirty seconds away, and the two clones just getting back from their water trip. Everyone else was dead or running towards Kurenai and Shino. Naruto motioned for his clones to hide so that they could surprise the enemy with their Suishoha.
"You two caused all this?" A voice boomed. "You slaughtered my bandit camp?"
A hulking man stepped out of the darkness. He was 6'5 with bulging muscles, black hair and black eyes. Across his forehead was a Hitai-ate with the Rock village insignia with a scratch straight through it. His legs didn't seem to be as developed as his arms, so they hoped that was a weakness they could exploit. But then the man pointed to Naruto, "You! You look like the Kiiroi Senko! (Yellow Flash)" The man seethed, "Are you related to that man?"
Naruto calmly responded, "I wouldn't know, I have been an orphan since birth."
The man gives a maniacal grin, "Well I'm gonna have to kill you anyway. Just. In. Case."
The man sprints over to them and tries to smash them on the head, but the two genin quickly dodge to the side. However, when his fists hit the ground it makes a crater and leaves cracks in the ground. The two genin have the same thought, 'We cannot get hit by that.'
Hinata runs around the man and tries to close some tenketsu in his legs but the man sweeps his left arm forcing her to jump back and out of the way. On the other side Naruto throws a few kunai to keep distance but the man only uses his other arm, which darkens slightly, to block his face because when the kunai hit his arm they bounced off the darkened part harmlessly.
"That won't be enough boy!" Ignoring Hinata the man charged straight to Naruto but Naruto quickly made three clones. While the first two ran to meet the man halfway they were dispelled by a few punches. But the delay was just enough to allow the third clone to begin his jutsu, "Raiton: Rai Tenohira!"
Running in the clone tried to touch but the man kept dodging for a few seconds until he popped it.
Speeding through hand signs the man shouts, "Doton: Doryudan! (Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet)" A dragon of earth emerges from the ground, opens its mouth, then shoots bullets of earth. Naruto dodged all the bullets fluidly but then he looked behind him, the bullets were destroying anything they came in contact with.
Naruto became worried, 'The other women! They're going to die in the crossfire.' Hinata charges the man from behind, providing just enough of a distraction to sneakily make a few clones to help the women out of the cages.
Signaling to his other clothes, they released the water to manipulate it. Hinata was dodging the Iwa nuke-nins strikes but unfortunately she was off balance for a split second, giving the man a chance to hit her. But just as he was about to land his strike a dense stream of water crashed into him toppling him to the ground and giving Hinata a chance to run away.
Grouping back up Naruto asks, "Any luck?"
Hinata shakes her head, "No he's fast, strong, and it seems that suiton jutsu have little to no effect. Though he seems really easy to set off balance."
"Note taken, but remember looks can be deceiving."
The man stood up menacingly, "You are going to pay for that kid."
Trying to stall Naruto asks, "If you are going to kill us, can we at least know your name?"
The man gives a mad grin, "Tetsudon Ryuma."
Faster than before the man dashes straight to them. A clone tried using water to slow the man down, but he ran straight through it. But the momentary blindness gave the pair a chance to dodge. Naruto flew through hand seals and shouted, "Raiton: Rai Tenohira!"
But Ryuma smirks cockily, "That won't work if you can't get close!"
Giving a tired grin of his own, Naruto responds, "Not if you're drenched."
"Huh?" Naruto places his hands on a stream of water flowing in front of him, letting the electricity flow through the water. Seeing the electrified water move towards him the nuke-nin quickly jumped back, but the clone directed the water directly onto the man.
Falling to the ground in extreme pain the man seized from the amount of electricity coursing through him. Watching the man twitch uncontrollably on the ground Naruto and Hinata thought they had a moment to breathe. He had just received the memories of the clones evacuating all the women, and was calmed by knowing they were safe.
Hinata was walking over to Naruto to tell him that Kurenai was almost there when her byakugan sensed the slightest movement and chakra use from the fried jonin, then a dark streak heading straight for her. But for Naruto it felt as if it was all in slow motion. He saw the man stand up and take a mad dash for Hinata. 'I can't let her get hit by that!'
Reacting solely on instinct, Naruto pumped as much chakra as he could into his legs and ran as fast as he could. With a shadow looming over her, Hinata could only close her eyes in resignation. Naruto watched as the Ryuma's fist got closer and closer, so knowing he couldn't get there fast enough, Naruto kawarimi's with her, and a split second later he felt pressure on his stomach, excruciating pain, then he felt himself flying through the air, crashing through several tents, and then darkness.
-With Kurenai-
She had finished off the last bandit and was rushing to Naruto's last reported location. But just as she arrived she watched Naruto being flung through buildings. 'Damnit.'
The man was about to hit Hinata too but Kurenai zoomed through hand signs shouting, "Magen: Jubaku Satsu (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)"
Instantly Ryuma froze believing that he was bound by a growing tree, giving Shino just enough time to pull Hinata away. But after a second Ryuma broke through the genjutsu and glared at Kurenai, "You are the leader of these brats? I guess I'll have to kill you too." His expression morphed to a lecherous grin, "But maybe I'll have some fun with you first."
Sprinting to her position he tries to knock on her unconscious but his arm passes right through her.
"Dammit another genjutsu! … Kai!"
Her image fades away, and when he turns around to find her he receives a foot to the jaw, knocking him to the floor.
"Damn woman!" The man screams. As he stands up he runs through hand signs, "Doton: Domu! (Earth Style: Iron Skin)"
His skin visibly darkens, turning a steel, grayish color.
Landing on the ground Kurenai shouts, "Magen: Jigoku Koka (Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell)"
Suddenly Ryuma felt extremely hot. Looking around he spotted a large fireball heading straight for him.
Despite his hardened skin he was feeling the heat of the flames so he tried dispelling the genjutsu, but it didn't work.
Panting Kurenai turns to her genin and says, "I triple layered the genjutsu, it should take him a while to realise he's not on fire. Shino put as many bugs as you can without disrupting the genjutsu, then leave. Hinata go check on Naruto. I can't have you two interfere in the battle."
Shino raises his arms, and hundreds of bugs fly out of his sleeves. Carefully those bugs maneuver through the terrain as Ryuma flails trying to avoid the fire that's only in his head. Attaching themselves to his skin they slowly begin to drain his chakra.
Hinata jumps through every Naruto sized hole that she sees trying to find where Naruto landed. Finally going through a few buildings she found him unconscious on top of a pile of wood. Carefully she lays him flat on the ground and activates her byakugan. Checking his organs she is relieved to find his heart pumping, and his lungs breathing, but she is devastated to find all his ribs broken, and his liver bleeding. Dropping to her knees tears formed in her eyes. Dropping to the ground she bawled over his body, closing her eyes she missed his ribs beginning to mend.
-Naruto's mindscape-
Looking around Naruto found himself in a field with a city in the distance.
"Damn! He punched me into my mindscape," he said, unbelievingly. 'Let's find Kurama.'
"I'm under the tree." Naruto heard a loud growl.
Rolling his eyes he asks, "Can't you call me by my name Kurama? I call you by yours."
Walking up to the gigantic tree he sees Kurama sitting in lotus position, meditating.
"What do you want? I'm trying to heal you up right now."
Naruto smiles, "Thanks! I figure if I'm here I should at least visit."
"Thanks for the consideration," Kurama grunts. "But wouldn't it be better to wake up and help your team?"
Naruto shakes his head, "I can't help them if I'm dead. What's the damage?"
"Broken ribs and a bruised liver."
"That's bad! How fast do you think you can get me out of here?"
"Few minutes maximum."
Naruto smiles, "Thanks Kurama, when I come back, We can establish that mind-link…As my thanks."
-real world-
As Naruto regained consciousness he could feel pressure on his body. And as he opened his eyes he saw Hinata weeping, "Why? Why did you save me?"
"I couldn't live if I caused you to die. I love you too much." She whimpered.
Naruto moves his arm to pat her head, "I couldn't either."
Hinata whipped her head around to see a grinning Naruto. She hugs him tight in relief.
"Hey, not too tight. My ribs are healing."
HInata let go of embarrassment, "O-oh, S-sorry."
Standing up he smiles, "We're going to have to talk later, but for now, let's go help Kurenai-sensei."
Blushing up a storm she could only stutter, "W-wait!"
However, Naruto couldn't hear her, already having run off into battle. But Hinata remained behind, catching her breath.
To be Continued…
I will post every one to two weeks. Thank you for reading.
