Tsunade sat in her office, completely sober as she silently hyped herself up for what she was about to do.
"Are you sure this is wise, Tsunade-sama? Naruto has been through enough as it is. Won't this just add on to his burden?" Shizune, Tsunade's assistant and lone apprentice, asked.
Tsunade nodded. It was a reasonable question given what she planned to do. "I understand your concerns, Shizune, I really do, but this needs to be done."
She got up and walked towards the balcony. "Is the whole village gathered?" Tsunade asked as she observed the massive crowd below. They were all chattering amongst themselves, wondering what she was going to announce.
"Hai, Tsunade-sama." With a final nod, Tsunade walked out to the balcony. In front of her was several microphones connected to various speakers all over the village.
After a brief pause, she began to speak.
Deep under Konoha the three members of the Shinobi Council sat in an office, stewing in their anger.
"That foolish, half-witted, imbecilic, moronic woman!" Koharu spat in a vitriolic rant.
"Despite the idiotic woman's attempt, I've already sent ROOT on the jinchuuriki's trail. It won't be long for that stupid boy to be caught." Danzo placated.
"Don't forget: even though he has the mental capacity of a small child, he was still able to avoid and outrun ANBU when he was an academy student. It will most likely be a while before your ROOT bring him back. It's already been two days." Homura reminded Danzo.
Danzo scoffed. "That just proves that the ANBU have gotten lax and weak if a mere boy can do that. My ROOT stay at top form constantly."
"What are we to do for the Uchiha? Tsunade's clear bias against him will truly end the Uchiha line. How are we to remake the clan under Konoha's control if we don't have an Uchiha to start?" Koharu asked.
Danzo showed a ghost of a smirk. "I've already sent my men to break him out. We'll bring him here, and train him to kill Itachi, then have him remake his clan."
Sasuke sat in his cell simmering in anger.
He lost.
He lost to the Dead Last.
He lost to the Dobe.
He lost to the failure.
He lost to Naruto Uzumaki.
He was currently in Hōzuki Castle, better known as the Blood Prison. Usually missing-nins as well as other criminals are executed on sight, but there are some who are important in a political sense, so they are sent to the Blood Prison.
Sasuke, as he was the last "loyal" Uchiha, counts as politically important.
So there he sat, in the middle of the night, stewing in his anger at losing.
"I don't care how it takes, I will kill you Naruto. Then when I get my power boost from that, I'll be able to kill Itachi." Sasuke said to himself.
"That might be sooner than you believe."
Sasuke looked up to see an Anbu standing in front of his cell. "What do you mean? Why are you here?"
"I, and my comrades, are here to break you out, Uchiha-sama." Replied a toneless voice.
Sasuke just smirked.
-Timeskip-
"Thank you for your teachings and for granting me sanctuary, Chiriku-sama." Naruto bowed respectfully.
"No thanks necessary, Uzumaki-san. You needed help, so we helped you." Chiriku and some other monks behind him bowed to Naruto.
The two years he spent with the monks was the most productive he's ever truly been.
He was adept in many of the jutsu from both his parents personal arsenal and the Hokage library. The hardest to learn was the Hiraishin. While he was learning the Hiraishin, he grew a healthy respect for his father as a shinobi. For a non-Uzumaki to be able to dissect seals to such a degree is incredible. Even though he was piggybacking off the Nidaime's notes to make it, the Yondaime was the only one to make sense of them.
Naruto was also able to recreate his mother's chakra chains. They were terrifying. Unbreakable, and drains chakra, two devastating combinations when used. They were even able to hold the Kyuubi.
Speaking of the Kyuubi, Naruto made friends with the construct. They, of course had a rough beginning, but they were able to talk it out. Naruto even started to call the Kyuubi 'nii-san', which oddly made it very amused for some reason.
When he yanked the paper off the gates, he was shocked to find both his parents showing up. As soon as he saw his father, before he could stop himself, he punched him hard enough to send him flying.
His mother gaped for a moment before bursting out laughing. After she collected herself, she gave him a hug that only a loving mother could give. He sorely needed that in his life.
They sat and talked for a long time, his father joining after recovering from the punch.
They learned of what his life was like from his own mouth, playing his memories to add to his words.
Furious would be too mild of a word to use to describe how angered they both were at the treatment of there child.
With the help of the monks and his parents, he was able grow from the emotional trauma he faced in his childhood.
Now he planned to go to Uzushiogakure, his ancestral home. His mother directed him to a secret entrance to the island.
With a final bow, Naruto turned and made his way to Uzu.
-Flashback no Jutsu-
"Repeat yourself, Jiraiya-san. By paraphrasing, it sounds like you said a dutiful and loyal Konoha shinobi was banished for completing his mission. Is this why Nami no Kuni, Haru no Kuni, and Tsuki no Kuni are all demanding to sever the alliance we secured?"
After Jiraiya pulled his spy network from Konoha, he went directly to the Fire Daimyo's court in the heart of Hi no Kuni. It didn't long for the news of Naruto's banishment to reach beyond the borders of Hi no Kuni.
Jiraiya gained an audience with the Daimyo and explained all that befell his godson.
"Hai, Daimyo-sama. Naruto Uzumaki, son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, was banished from Konoha following a successful retreat mission. The Councils, using an old and obscure law, went behind the Hokage's back to vote for a suitable punishment. Tsunade had to choose between imprisoning Naruto indefinitely and banishmeant." Jiraiya explained. He was kneeling, his eyes downcast. His usual perversion kept tightly controlled despite the multiple beautiful concubines and servants in the room.
The current Daimyo has been ruling for only a year after his father's death. His father before him liked to leave the ruling over Konoha to the Hokage, and manage everywhere else in his lands.
"Clearly my father's standoffish attitude regarding Konoha has made those in power grow in arrogance. They believe that the laws of the land they are occupying are obsolete to them. It seems that I must make a visit and start paying close attention to my subjects. Guards! Prepare my carriage, and inform the samurai that we will be going to Konoha!"
"Hai, Daimyo-sama!" The two guards ran out the throne room.
"I thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jiraiya-san. Rest assured, you will not be placed in the Bingo Books, and you still have your Sannin status as well as all that entails." The Daimyo reassured.
"Thank you, Daimyo-sama, for your kindness towards my godson and myself." Jiraiya spoke humbly.
"Of course, Jiraiya-san. Now, I must prepare myself for the journey to Konoha."
-Flashback no Jutsu kai-
Jiraiya spent following two years after that looking for Naruto. He traveled to all the countries that Naruto visited for a mission.
Using all of the skills he's cultivated over the years, he spoke to a lot of different people in those countries about Naruto, and to gleam any clues he could about him.
Naruto was regarded as a hero in all of them. It filled Jiraiya with pride and shame that Naruto was able to do all of that after essentially raising himself. Jiraiya could've at least visited Naruto every time he came to Konoha, but he focused on peeping on unsuspecting women, and delivering his report.
He could only imagine just how far Naruto would have gotten if he received a modicum of actual instructions instead of constantly having people try to sabotage him.
Now it's been two years, and Jiraiya was lost on where else to look for Naruto. If he could, he would have reverse summoned him using the Toad Contract, but they were a Konoha summons because their main summoner was loyal to the Leaf. When Naruto was banished, Katsuya the Slug summons sent a missive explaining Naruto's banishment, and the Toads were forced to remove his name from the contract. None of them truly wanted for that to happen, but they had no choice.
Jiraiya sighed in exhaustion. He just crossed over into Hi no Kuni's borders and was thinking on where Naruto could've gone. 'I've already been everywhere he was, even visited the new Kazekage, who I heard was a friend of Naruto's. I can't think of anywhere outside of Fire Country he could've gone. Unless… he never left the damn country!'
"Son of a bitch…" Jiraiya swore as he dashed off towards the Fire Temple.
Naruto walked through the ruins of his ancestral home with tears falling unimpeded.
All around him was the skeletal bodies of his fallen kin. From what he's seen, the invaders didn't discriminate on who they killed. The skeletons of children and babies being clutched in their parents' arm led credence to that.
As he stood at the center of the island, he summoned thousands of clones. When they all poofed in existence, he pulled out a massive empty storage scroll.
"Collect every Uzumaki skeleton and bring them here, then, put them in this storage scroll. Leave the bodies of the enemy nin for last. When you're all done storing away my kin, collect the bodies of the enemy nin and put them in a pile. Once that's completed, burn them. They willingly murdered children and babies. They are not deserving of a proper burial. Dispell in groups of ten when you're all done."
"Yosh!"
With that, Naruto's clones went to work collecting the Uzumaki. He felt that his family deserved better than to be buried in a ruined island.
While his clones were at work, he followed the senses he's been ignoring to deal with the dead.
His senses led him to what looked to be the Clan Head's office. Looking at the wall, there was a massive map. On the East was the Elemental Nations in detail from the biggest countries and cities, to the smallest.
Naruto has never truly seen a map of the Elemental Nations before, so he was entranced by the sight. He has always believed the Elemental Nations to be the only land mass, but looking at the West part of the map, he saw a land larger than the Elemental Nations. It didn't have any details like the Eastern section of the map, but there was a small summary on the center.
'The West and the East were once one whole continent, but the land was constantly ravaged in violence and war. The Sage of Six Paths, seeing the suffering of the civilians and the more peaceful clans wanting nothing to do with all the violence, used his powers to separate the land.'
Naruto stood there a moment to process all of this information, then a small smile graced his lips. 'The lands were separated centuries ago, so there's a very low possibility of the wars still going on. Hinata and I can start fresh in a new land.'
With a new sense of urgency, Naruto began looking through the office for more details of the west. After an hour, he found nothing. Using his senses, he went to the ground floor of the Clan Head office. In a far corner on the wall was a small seal with the label 'Legacy' on it.
Following his senses, he bit his thumb and bled on the small seal. Hearing a poof behind him, he turned to find a trap door opening in the center of the room.
Cautiously, he walked towards it, and found stairs leading down towards a tunnel. It was oddly clean, with torches lighting automatically.
Making his way to the end of the tunnel, he found a life size statue holding a naginata in one hand, and a katana on the other. Around it's neck was a black magatama necklace with a purple howling wolf coai engraved on it. Both the katana and naginata matched the necklace in which the are all black with purple accents on it.
With a smile, he realizes that the purple matched his mother's eyes.
He reached out a place a hand on the statue, right on the chest. He bowed his head briefly, then looked back up to see the necklace and weapons gone. Then he felt a strange weight on his right hand. He looked at it, and found a bracelet and a ring, both with the Uzumaki symbol on them. He then placed a hand on his chest and found the necklace there.
Following a hunch, he channeled chakra on his wrist and the naginata appeared. Channeling chakra into it again, it disappeared and the bracelet came back. He repeated this action with the ring.
After bowing to the statue, he began to look around the area only to finally take notice of the skeleton on the ground. It was wearing Kage robes, but it was covered in dried blood, and there was a large tear on the side, showing that it was a fatal wound. By the skeleton were two scrolls. One was a summoning contract and the other was a scroll with another blood seal labeled 'Legacy'.
He sealed the skeleton in a small scroll, then picked up the two scrolls. He made his way outside and sat on top of building, watching his clones at work.
He looked at the summoning contract. Opening it, he found that it was a contract for the wolves. He decided to sign it at a later date when he wasn't so emotionally imbalanced from being at Uzu.
He looked at the Legacy scroll. Reopening the wound on his thumb, he swiped his blood on the seal. Immediately, the small seal on the scroll grew and multiple seals spread across the scroll. As the seals overtook the scroll, the seals started to spread onto Naruto's hand. Panicking, Naruto tried to drop the scroll, but he couldn't let it go.
The scroll started vanishing the more seals spread onto Naruto. Soon, darkness consumed his vision as he lost consciousness.
Tsunade drank a cup of tea while watching the sunset on top of the Hokage Monument.
Not long after Naruto's banishment, she stopped drinking all together. It was a self imposed punishment for not stopping Naruto's banishment. She made her way here, in a spot Naruto always came when he was here, to reminisce over the last two years while her clones handled her paperwork.
Konoha was in a steep decline when an irate Daimyo made his way into a Council Meeting.
Flashback no jutsu
"The Uchiha must not face criminal charges, as he was under the influence of the Cursed Seal." Koharu Utatane was petitioning to Tsunade.
Tsunade was less than impressed. "That is no excuse for his attempted defection. He needs to be suitably punished for this."
Looking around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention, she layed down the law. "Sasuke Uchiha, Genin of Konohagakure no Sate, Shinobi Registration Number 0-1-2-6-0-6, is is to be sent to Hōzuki Castle, better known as the Blood Prison. Furthermore, Cell Seven is immediately dissolved. Captain Hatake has shown that he is not capable of leading a team of genin due to his blatant favoritism and will be placed back inside the ANBU. Sakura will be reassigned to another cell."
The Civilian side of the council had no choice, but to agree with Tsunade's decree. They were angered with the ruling, but they were also in a good mood, as they had finally gotten rid of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, circumventing around Tsunade's authority in order to do so. "What is the next order of business Advisor Mitokado?"
Homura then spoke. "Our next order of business is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki himself. I propose that he will be placed in the Bingo Book as a S-ranked missing ninja with orders to kill on sight." Turning to Tsunade, noting the furious expression on her face, he spoke quickly. "The boy is a danger. Who know what he will do? He is unpredictable and now that he has been banished, he could take his revenge on Konoha."
Before anything else could be said, the chamber's doors opened and armored samurai stepped inside, ready to execute their lord's will.
Hiashi Hyuuga was on his feet. "This is a private meeting!" he barked. "Who dares interrupt this honorable council?"
"I dare, Hyuuga." the Fire Damiyo intoned as he strode inside, causing the Hyuuga clan head to drop onto his seat quickly.
The man's face showed genuine discontent of the council who had orchestrated the banishment of Minato's son, and the Hokage, who was helpless to stop them.
The council and Tsunade stood and bowed in respect of the ruler of Fire Country.
"Daimyo-sama, to what we owe the honor of your visit today?" Homura asked.
The Damiyo looked around before he began to speak. "I have received word from a very creditable source that this so-called 'honorable' council are attempting to place a boy in the Bingo Book for the sole reason of being the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." He deadpanned.
At that sentence, the council chamber went silent. Their scheme was exposed.
The Damiyo caught the looks on the council's faces. "So... it is true."
Hiashi was the first to quickly reply to the Damiyo's accusation. "Daimyo-sama, while that alone is a valid reason, it is not the main reason." He attempted to explain.
The Damiyo turned to Hiashi. "Do you believe I am a fool, Hyuuga?" He asked in a ice cold tone. "Please... tell me."
Wisely, Hiashi kept his mouth shut, since he wanted to keep his head.
"Coming from you, Hyuuga, I am most surprised to see that you of all people defending the Uchiha, given the bad blood between your clan and the Uchiha. I'm willing to bet you were very happy when most of them were slaughtered." The Daimyo voiced, causing Hiashi to purse his lips. "I have seen the mission parameters for the Uchiha Retrieval Mission, and you banished the boy solely for doing his job. If anything, the Uchiha should be banished, if not executed outright, for his attempted defection from the Leaf, as well as nearly causing the deaths of his teammates, as well as the visiting envoy from Suna who was also sent along for the mission."
One of the civilians rose up in protest. Tsunade recognized her as Mebuki Haruno, Sakura's mother and the leader of the Konoha Mercantile Guild. "Daimyo-sama, please excuse my interruption, but I must protest. Sasuke is the last of the Uchiha clan! He is needed here! Adviser Utatane verified it herself! The Uchiha was under the influence of the Cursed Seal."
"Oh? Tell me, Advisor Utatane, are you a fuinjutsu mistress?" Koharu kept her mouth shut, her face carefully blank. "Your Daimyo asked you a question, Advisor."
It looked as if it was painful for her to speak when she replied. "No, Daimyo-sama, I am not."
"Then you have no business speaking on things you know nothing about!" The Daimyo roared causing the entire council flinch back. "You fools value the Uchiha's Sharingan so far to the point that this pathetic council banished an innocent boy for something that was not in his control."
No one could even look in the Daimyo's general direction as he spoke, but unfortunately for them, he was not finished. "The Uchiha left the village of his own accord, and you were more than willing to sacrifice your own shinobi to bring him back. But back to the matter at hand. You banished the Uzumaki boy on trumped-up charges, yet he was more injured than the Uchiha. And now, you wish to place him in the Bingo Book solely because he is the jailer of the Nine-Tails." He began to count off on his fingers. "One, you had overrode the authority of your Hokage to have him banished, ergo you cannot label him as a missing nin. Two, I see no reason to have him placed in the book, nor send hunter ninja after him, since he is not a criminal. The third reason is strictly political."
Off their confused looks, the Damiyo decided to explain. "My counterpart in Wind Country spoke highly of the Uzumaki boy, as he had helped the Suna jinchuuriki, and also saw that he was wrong in cutting their military aid. The Princess of Spring Country, as well as the people of Wave Country also hold the boy in high regards for his actions, as does countless others. My own influence will decrease should he is placed in the Bingo Book."
The council knew what was coming.
Danzo rose from his seat. "Daimyo-sama, please. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki is a threat to the Leaf. He must be dealt with while we have the chance."
The Damiyo cut him off with a glare. "If I remember correctly, Shimura, you do not dictate what I should do. I am the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni. Not you. Are we clear?"
"Hai, Daimyo-sama. My apologies." Danzou grated as he slid back into his seat. Even the warhawk knew better than to go against the Fire Daimyo.
The Damiyo then made his judgement. "While I cannot reverse the banishment orders, I can issue the following edict: Naruto Uzumaki will not be placed in the Bingo Book, nor will you continue to send hunter ninja after him. This is my final word on this matter. If I find out that he is placed inside or you continue to send your ANBU after him, not only will I have the entire Konoha Council - civilian and shinobi - executed for high treason against Fire Country...but Sasuke Uchiha will be executed as well, just to spite you."
Any protests the council was planning on making instantly died in their mouths. They knew that the Fire Damiyo was serious.
Seeing as the council was willed into submission the Damiyo nodded. "Glad you decided to see things my way. As of this moment, the matter regarding Uzumaki is closed."
Flashback no Jutsu Kai
The Daimyo would later decrease Konoha's military budget by a significant amount as punishment to the whole village.
To raise money, Konoha had to lower prices on missions for a long time while Tsunade enacted her plan.
She had a massive casino and hotel built in the center of Konoha. The Lucky Leaf was able to return a good chunk of revenue back into Konoha. It's not what it was, but Konoha was staying afloat for now.
"I hope your doing alright, Naruto."
Hinata missed her boyfriend.
The two years since he was banished were very annoying to Hinata.
Not everyone was happy with Hinata's change. One of them being her cousin, Neji.
Hinata had stopped holding back in her spars with her sister, and the Elders were unhappy. So they arranged a spar with the clan prodigy. In their words, the heiress must be one of the strongest in clan if she is to bring more prestige to it. Unfortunately for them, their scheme didn't go as planned.
-Flashback no Jutsu -
"Hajime!"
"You should for-" Neji began, but was immediately cut off when Hinata spun on her right foot and swiftly brought her left leg up and swung it hard across Neji's face. The male Hyuuga, caught off guard by the surprise attack, was sent spinning off the ground before hitting the floor with a thud.
All the occupants in the room sat in sheer disbelief.
Neji, momentarily dazed, gradually got back on his feet while rubbing his face which now had a shocked expression and a noticeable bruise forming.
As much as he would have liked to deny it, Hinata's surprise attack hurt a lot, and left him dizzy for a moment. He couldn't believe that Hinata not only managed land a swift blow on to his face with her foot, but she made him look stupid in front of everyone during his speech. Feeling something warm with an iron-like taste seeping down his chin, Neji rubbed his lips only to find that he was now bleeding from a swollen and busted lip. The bruise in his jaw was even more painfully felt.
"Instead of wasting time talking, let's spar." Hinata spoke, her voice calm.
Neji looked back at Hinata with unadulterated hatred.
'I'll kill her!' Neji raged internally as anger and bloodlust leak out of him.
'Fool. Letting his anger dictate his actions.' Hinata scoffed mentally.
Neji charged at Hinata with his palm raised and extended. As his coordinated attacks came one after another, Hinata was able to evade and deflect every last one of them easily. But to the eyes of all the onlookers, it was as though two prodigies were blurs. The speed they were moving at made it look like they were at a stalemate.
The two Hyuuga backed away and stood ten yards away from each other. Neji looked at Hinata carefully and found her looking completely calm and confident with no trace of doubt, fear, or insecurity.
'She's always been weaker than me. I refuse to be defeated by her. No! Fate will not allow it!' Neji thought to himself as he gritted his teeth in frustration. He was the Hyuuga prodigy, a genius, the one who was given the strongest Byakugan abilities in the Hyuuga Clan, and he wasn't going to be defeated by the one he regarded as the weakest link of the Main House.
"Not bad, Hinata-sama, but it'll take more than just fancy dodging to stand against me in this fight." stated Neji, as he assumed his Juuken stance and prepared for another round.
At this Hinata replied. "You may speak like that when you've landed a hit on me."
The two combatants charged at each other. They met and began throwing open palms strikes at each other. Neji tried to palm Hinata's stomach, but the Hyuuga heiress blocked and sent a palm towards Neji's chest. He dodged to the left and tried to strike back. Hinata evaded as well. This fast paced sidestep-block-evade dance continued for a while as neither landed a blow on the other.
Griping his fists tightly, Hiashi watched the match before him. Hinata's words rang through his head as he payed rapt attention to the spar. 'Now that I've gathered sufficient information on who is who, I can finally show my true strength. Rejoice, otou-sama. You're getting what you want.'
'Except, this is not what I wanted! Now her foolish dreams of releasing the Branch family of the Caged Bird Seal are looking more realistic. Damn it all.' Hiashi thought.
Neji rushed forward again, and tried going for her chakra points to strike and shut them down. Though Neji's raw skills were known for always making their mark, Hinata's agility and lithe figure allowed her to level the playing field as she swiftly moved around Neji and all of his attacks without getting hit even once.
After ten minutes and failing to hit even one of her chakra points, Neji and Hinata pulled back from each other. He was breathing a bit heavily while Hinata didn't even look warmed up yet. That served to infuriate Neji, though he maintained his composure.
"Is this the best your training did for you?" Neji asked after catching his breath.
"No, I was merely getting an assessment of your fighting style and your pattern," Hinata answered calmly. "I think I've seen enough."
"Your arrogance is unbecoming, Hinata-sama. The outcome of this match was already decided from the time you were set to fight me. You are fated to lose disgracefully at my feet." Neji sneered.
Hinata didn't even respond. With an impassive expression worthy of any Hyuuga, she balled her fists and held her arms in an upright position. She focused her chakra into her arms and before long, her arms flared with chakra. She increased and strengthened the output of her chakra, which then took on the form of two large lion-head-shaped shrouds of chakra with glowing white eyes around their hands. The intense roaring of her chakra gave the impression that the lion heads were truly roaring fiercely.
Neji, despite his best efforts, couldn't help but look shocked at what he was seeing.
"Jūho Sōshiken (Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists)," Hinata said.
'Jūho Sōshiken?! I wasn't aware that such a Juuken exist! Damn! It must be a Main Branch Technique.' Neji growled internally. to himself while looking at the amount of chakra Hinata was putting out.
"This is very troubling." One of the Elders whispered to his fellow Elders. "Very troubling indeed."
Neji charged at her and aimed to hit one of her chakra points. Upon reaching her, Neji thrust his right palm forward to strike. However Hinata moved so fast it looked as though she completely vanished in front of him.
"What?!" Neji said as he had never seen Hinata move that fast. Before he could fully process what just happened, Hinata reappeared next to him at his right and delivered a brute punch straight into his gut and lower ribs, effectively knocking the breath out of him.
Neji doubled over and cough up blood out of his mouth as the pain ripped through his body as he seemingly lost his voice to let out the yell that wanted to escape his throat that was now spewing some blood from his mouth.
He grunted lowly while on the ground with blood still in his mouth as Hinata stepped away from him with her fists still flaring with her lion head chakra. When she was twenty feet away from him, she turned to him and waited patiently for Neji to pick himself off the ground.
"I-if Neji-san doesn't get up in the next ten seconds, he will be forfeited. 10… 9…"
Neji gathered his strength together and gradually stood back up to see Hinata staring at him.
"You yield?" Hinata asked. Realizing that Hinata stood there and waited for him to stand and get back on his feet after knocking him down, Neji's anger grew hot.
Hinata saw the look on his face and merely raised an eyebrow. "I'm giving you the chance to surrender and to walk away from this peacefully with no further injuries being inflicted on you, Neji-san."
"Don't speak to me as though I'm beneath you, Hinata-sama." Neji growled. "Just because you managed to catch me off guard mean you're better than me!"
"I don't see you as beneath me, and I acknowledge your developed skills and aptitude in our clan's Juunken. But I will fight you seriously this time if you choose to continue." Hinata stated.
"You didn't back down when I told you to Hinata-sama so don't expect me to back down just because you asked me to." Neji replied.
"You wish to continue? Very well." Hinata said as she clenched her fists and assumed a Juuken stance, her fists still maintaining her Jūho Sōshiken. Neji wiped the blood away from his mouth and assumed his own stance.
A few seconds later, Hinata charged at Neji and likewise Neji charged at her.
Before they reached each other, Hinata disappeared and reappeared suddenly in front of her older cousin and punched him square in the face, effectively busting his nose as blood now came from out of it. He was left in a daze again, this time with his head throbbing and vision temporarily blurred. This was followed up with fast left kicks to his lower legs, stomach, the midsection of his chest, his stomach, then a high ax kick up to his bottom jaw and fast ax kick down to the top of his head.
She kicked him several more times with her right foot before delivering four swing kicks with her right and left legs to both of his arms which was followed with up a swift roundhouse kick that flipped Neji backwards off his feet and down onto his chest. Hinata backed away and stood her grounds after knocking Neji down for the third time.
By this time the battered Neji was covered in noticeable bruises around his body with several sections of his clothes and bandages stained with his blood.
'This is impossible! There's no logical explanation for Hinata-sama's sudden power and strength! Fate had her future as a failure set from long ago!'Neji thought as he struggled to stand.
"Once again Neji-san, do you yield?" Hinata asked coolly.
"Never!" Neji sneered as he summoned his strength and rushed straight at Hinata again.
Despite how fast he was moving while ignoring the pain from his injuries, she sidestepped and jumped away with her hands moving together and getting ready for Neji. He turned and came at her. She evaded all of his attacks without bothering to block any of them. Soon though, he found an opening, and a delivered a Juuken punch there. Seeing that she was knocked off balance, he started attacking her chakra points directly around her arms, canceling out her Jūho Sōshiken. He then delivered a brute Juuken palm strike to the center of her breasts, leading her to cough up blood as she was thrown backwards to the floor with a thud.
"Finally." Another Elder remarked. "I was worried she would be the victor."
"Keep your voice down."
"You can try to defy fate all you like Hinata-sama, but nothing will change the outcome of this match." Neji said, feeling confident that things returned back in his favor. Until he saw Hinata slowing getting back up off the ground. But then her body completely broke down and scattered into many spiraling floating rose pedals. The pedals floated and hovered around Neji who looked on in confusion.
"What is this? What's happening?" Neji asked himself. A moment later, he realized what happened.
"Kai!" Neji yelled as he formed a seal and dispelled the genjutsu. He snapped out of the deception he was put under in time to see the unharmed Hinata elbow him hard to the face after she had already delivered several Juuken punches to his body while he was under her genjutsu.
The entire room was paralyzed. For most, it was shock, but for the Elders, it was fear. Hinata, someone they constantly belittled and insulted, can perform genjutsu that can even fool the Byakugan. She could easily kill them if they aren't careful from here on out.
Before Neji could retaliate, Hinata grabbed him and quickly leaped and sat herself on top of his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his back tightly.
"What the-?!" Neji said as he found Hinata piggyback riding on him. He tried pulling her legs off him but found that her hold on him was like a vice grip.
Hinata, while holding Neji securely with her legs, back flipped with Neji being lifted completely off the ground with her. Everyone watched as Hinata's hands landed perfectly on the ground, and with the same momentum and strength, she swung Neji over her and down towards the ground. Neji's eyes widened as he saw that he was about to be slammed to the ground on his face and chest. A second later, an audible thud was heard as Hinata flipped slammed her cousin into the ground. Hinata removed her legs from around his back and took a few steps away from her put down cousin.
While Neji was disoriented, he gradually pulled himself together picked himself off the floor. He charged at her and aimed to strike her near the lungs. However Hinata charged forward and smacked his left hand away. She followed up with several fierce Juuken strikes to his chakra points around his body which in effect did some damage to his internal organs and muscles. Hinata then clenched her fists, and in blurred motion, she rained down an 18-hit combo of Juuken punches to his chest, stomach, back and face with the last punch being a swift right fist uppercut that sent Neji soaring straight into the air towards the ceiling.
Before he could reach the ceiling, Neji opened his eyes to see Hinata suddenly appear in front of him. The next thing he saw was her lion-enshrouded right fist colliding into his chest, sending him plunging right into the ground on his back.
The ground underneath him cratered on impact with a small dust cloud as Hinata landed gracefully on her feet to see Neji where he was. She thrust both of her fists into the air and intensified her chakra output, with the loud roaring of her chakra making it look as through the twin lion heads around her arms were roaring loudly with pride.
Hinata lowered her arms down to her sides and dispelled her Jūho Sōshiken.
Neji coughed up more blood as pain completely ripped through his entire body as he lied on his back in the crater with four cracked ribs and a concussion on top of the other external and internal injuries he already had. He found it difficult to breathe but he willed himself not to stop.
"If Neji-san doesn't get up in the next ten seconds, he will be forfeited. 10… 9…"
Neji, with his Byakugan still activated, grunted as he turned and crawled out from the crater and faced Hinata who stood calm and upright on the arena floor with her Byakugan still activated as she looked right back at him.
Neji managed to summon up some strength to get on his hand and knee, though he was sweating hard, bleeding and coughing blood from his mouth, and struggling to catch his breath.
"I will not ask you a third time Neji-san. This time, I'm telling you, yield!" Hinata stated with a strong tone.
'Where did all of this power and strength come from.' Neji wondered as he looked back at Hinata with anger, disdain and confusion. 'Hinata-sama has always been the weakest and the most disappointing heiress of the Main House. She couldn't even win a fight against Hanabi-sama and her Juuken was always the poorest. How could she have changed so suddenly and hurt me, the prodigy of our clan, this bad? It doesn't make any sense! Fate had her future as a failure decided from long ago!' Neji grew only angrier the more he thought about it.
"I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have Neji-san." Hinata said composedly."You're clearly in no condition to continue."
"I don't need your pity Hinata-sama." Neji spat disrespectfully as he finally got up and stood back up looking Hinata straight in the eyes. "You may have improved but I can still fight and come out the victor as fate decreed since this match's beginning!"
Neji charged at Hinata with all of his remaining strength with the aim to kill her while again trying to ignore the pain his whole body and head was in. Hinata stood there and waited for Neji to reach her with his right arm extended out aiming to strike her heart directly.
'He won't yield. I suppose it can't be helped.' Hinata thought as she saw an opening and at the last second, she rapidly side stepped Neji and thrust her fingers into his back, hitting several spots on his back. This resulted in Neji falling forward passed her with the same speed before crashing down on his face and chest, sliding across the floor for a few seconds before coming to a stop with his bloodline limit deactivating. Neji found that he was unable to move any part of his body. He was completely paralyzed.
Defeated, Neji, the proclaimed genius and prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan, dropped his head to the ground, unable to bear his shame and disgrace.
Flashback no Jutsu kai
Now that it's clear Hinata isn't weak by any means, the Elders have been avoiding her, but she knew they continued to scheme.
As she watched the sunset, she thought of Naruto.
"I miss you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto woke to feeling an intense heat, and a massive headache.
He knew this feeling. It was the feeling he felt when a lot of his clones popped at once.
Keeping his eyes closed, he sorted through all his new memories. As he was doing this, he realized there was more memories than there should be.
He has memories of hundreds of Uzumaki fuinjutsu grandmasters. They were all Clan Heads. All they knew about fuinjutsu, he now knew. All the training they did with the katana and the naginata, he now knew. The Uzumaki taijutsu style that has been perfected for generations, he now knew. The fundamentals of a shinobi, he was adept before, but now he mastered.
The scroll he touched was a contingency all the Uzumaki Clan Heads worked on should the Uzumaki clan become nearly extinct. The necklace, katana, and naginata are things that are passed down from Clan Head to Clan Head.
After coming to terms with his newfound knowledge, he opened his eyes to find the cause of the heat he's feeling. His eyes now had flecks of purple in them.
At the center of Uzu was a massive pile of bones that were lit on fire. He looked down and found the summoning scroll, and the new scroll of bodies that his clones made.
The Legacy scroll was nowhere to be found.
He now had everything he needed to go West.
"I apologize, Jiraiya-dono, but Uzumaki-san left over a week ago. He did mention he was going to Uzushiogakure." Chiraku told Jiraiya.
Jiraiya finally made it to the Fire Temple. "Thank you, Chiraku-dono. I have to leave immediately if I want to catch up."
He was getting close.