Heya guys and girls! Almost one month ago I updated last and although it's not extensively late it's still too long for my taste so I'll try and improve that with the next chapter :)
I know people are still complaining about the NaruHina pairing and I'm sorry but its set in stone and already added several factors. I personally think that even the NaruHina haters will like this ;D
Also I will try and give the Konoha characters more spot light because I tend to give Naruto most of the screen time so to speak. Yes he's the main character I still could improve on that!
On to the Reviews wheeeee!
Asheza: thanks for the compliment! I appreciate it! As a thank you I give you this chapter as a gift! *wink*
Bankai777: although I hadn't had it planned, I might add them in a small filler arc. Yes, I plan on adding a filler arc which will be explained after the reviews :)
Roboguy45: you will find out here!
Ezra Scarlet: that's actually where my thoughts trailed off to when I started thinking about the leader of the Reavers. I imagined him like Kenpachi from Bleach but instead of a crazy all out kind of guy I wanted this one to be calm and collected.
The three Stoogies: here you goooo! :D
Erching: No worries I have it all planned out! I wouldn't create an army this big if I hadn't had it all sorted out!
Shorty the Great: chaos! That's what will happen next muahahahahaha! Killer bee won't have much screen time in this chapter unfortunately, exactly only very little but that will change next chapter! (because if I added it in this chapter it would've reached like8/10k and then you'd guys and girls be waiting even longer)
Pyrophoricity: Thank you for reviewing! And yeah war is spreading along all borders slowly but steadily *evil grin*
Guest 5/6/13: I'm sorry you feel that way, you may feel its overused and maybe it is, but I will do it differently ;) don't give up yet!
Guest 5/8/13: sorry he only had a short intro here!
Crispybaconlove: yes he did! Check this link watch?v=T8oskgDvBr8 (technically not allowed but meh) and go to around 7:54 ish :D
anyways, thanks for the compliment I'm a sucker for compliments haha.
Darknesskitsune1235: It won't, don't worry Kitsune! (also pm'd you about it ;) )
Trak The Cat: I made it worse ;) gotta love evil thoughts!
Insaneclouwn: glad you likeeee it wheeee! Here's the chaptee! (r)
Paracuties: I got so annoyed that everyone kept forgiving Konoha and crap in their fanfictions, ugh it makes me sick :P
STR8UP187: it helps evolve the plot and to add character interaction, if you don't like it then I'm sorry and I hope you'll enjoy the other many stories on fanfiction. If you do however decide to tag along I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Trigun (both reviews yay): You have to understand though that even though he understand why Naruto did what he did, Naruto also pretty much threatened one of the Leaf elders alongside one of his friends. Further details will be added in near future chapters!
I might have overpowered Kenpachi a bit, but It will work out in the end;) personally I tought I could've done better with the infiltration mission, especially since it was a bit on the short side but Meh not gonna edit it anymore :P
Konoha-11-are-cool: HAH! WRONG! Ahum, I mean the rapping of Bee has been reduced due to him having not a lot of screen time, will be added next chapter!
The-CHibi-Master564: (both reviews): I. Love. Your. Review. At some points he has is rather lonely yeah, abandoned by his friends, havind lost Kyuubi, made new friends but lost some of them along the way as well. I personally like the Itachi and Naruto friendship a lot and I'm very unhappy that there are so few fanfiction about those two as friends. (they always make pairing with those two)
I myself am rewatching Naruto from episode one again, just because I love the anime so damn much. The sad music they have in Naruto (not shippuden) is to put it simply; perfect. Yes, Shippuden has great music as well; it just doesn't live up to for example: 'Sadness and Sorrow'.
*munching on the cookie*
Seriously: hahaha to be honest she and Naruto were initially the pairing for this story, but I decided to give you guys and girls a voting chance.
Alright one last thing!
Special thanks to Nicole-the-Shape-shifer for recommending this story to Chibi-master! I always appreciate people taking the time to pass such messages along!
Alright! Sooo many reviews! I LOVE IT!
Disclaimer: If I owned the story I would've made Naruto a super badass! But unfortunately I don't own Naruto; I just borrow the Naruto universe for entertaining purposes ;)
I Will Become a Ghost Chapter 22
~Chapter 22 – The battle for Kumogakure! ~
Kakashi looked at the spot where the clone had been previous. "This is not good."
Rome agreed. "Damn, I didn't suspect they would be that fast."
Sasuke joined in, having seen as well that the clone had disappeared. "That or they have decided to move things forward a lot faster the moment Naruto got away." It was still so strange to talk about Naruto like that. The dead last who caught up to him and defeated him when he tried to betray the village.
Sasuke had to suppress a scoff at the irony. Naruto betrayed the village himself shortly after they had returned to Konoha. No one heard of him for over seven years and then suddenly he pops back up, cocky and arrogant.
"Alright we have to speed things up." Kakashi said, breaking Sasuke's train of thought.
"Also we will be entering our destination most likely while it's under heavy attack, so be prepared!" Rome added as he shouted over his shoulder.
"Let's meet up with the detachments of the other village first." Micheru concluded who had been silent for most of the trip.
xXx
Hours later.
Kumogakure was on fire. Dozens of buildings were destroyed and countless bodies filled the streets.
Naruto looked at the streets from his hiding spot. Night had come and nearly no fighting was going on in the streets, but by no means was the city conquered.
Kumo had fallen back to their second wall which they had constructed in hopes of gaining an advantage in case the Reavers actually managed to enter the city, and as of yet the defenders were still somewhat successfully holding off the invaders.
Naruto was lying in the rubble, using the rubble and a body nearby to mask himself as yet another fallen defender.
From time to time a scream would erupt or a small explosion would occur but nothing as extreme as what happened during the day. And that was a good thing, every minute the enemy wasted on regrouping was a minute gained.
He tuned back into the radio frequency that was given by one of the Kumo shinobi and softly whispered in the headset's microphone. "Sector Alpha has minor activity; they are most likely regrouping for another assault.
There was a moment of silence. "Alright, if you can, try and regroup with the rest of us at the second wall."
"Will do, Darui see you in a bit." The blonde turned off his radio again and slowly stood back up his feet. The dead body slid onto the ground and the Hunter gave it a glance before moving out.
He had to move and fast. He had lost sight of Killer Bee hours ago and he assumed he had fallen back to the second wall.
He could easily use Flash step to get to his destination but that would attract them all to the wall and he was afraid that would renew their fighting spirit.
He slowly and as silently as possible made his way to the wall which he could see in the distance.
As he hugged close to a ruined wall of one of the buildings he could hear someone softly talking.
"P-p-please, I w-want to go home."
"Well you aint going nowhere, now shut up you bitch and spread those legs!" a voice snarled.
Naruto looked at the defenses in the distance and at the two figures inside the ruined house. One was laying on the floor, a young woman with brown curled hair, who from the looks of it had taken a severe beating.
The other towered over her and was pulling down his pants.
Naruto quickly grabbed a kunai and slipped inside the house. He silently made his way up to the man and before the Reaver knew what happened, Naruto had placed a hand over his mouth and slid the man's throat with the kunai. "Nighty night…" he whispered and dropped the body to the floor.
"You alright?" he asked at the young girl who couldn't be older than 16 or 17.
She shakily stood up and rushed over, hugging him tightly. "Thank you so much, sir! I'll never, never forget this!"
Naruto who stood rooted to the ground for a moment smiled gently after he regained himself. "Don't worry about it. Can you walk? We need to get to the wall."
"I-i think so." She hesitantly said as she slowly stood up, grimacing when she put some weight on one of her ankles.
Naruto walked over and placed an arm around her waist and slowly helped her out of the ruined building.
"I can wa-" her voice was cut off when Naruto place his free hand over her mouth and silenced her. He then pointed to the road in front of the building and saw a small group of Reavers scouting the place.
"We will have to wait this out." The blonde whispered to which the girl responded with a nod.
X
After having waited for ten to fifteen minutes the scouting party finally moved on and they could resume their trek through the ruined part of the village.
The fight had lasted for around 30 hours and they already had half of the village. The Hunter doubted they could turn the tide even with the reinforcements that were incoming.
He smirked and silently left the house and moved towards the wall. Yes, the odds were against them but they were doing the impossible as well. They were hurting them. Badly. Every country they gained they lost a high amount of men power as well. And that was what kept a lot of them going.
Naruto and the girl turned left and saw the large wall. There were barely any bodies
"Who's there? Is it tha 'crazy' hacka and slasher who doesn't care?" he heard someone badly rhyme.
"Yeah it's me, and for the love of Kami, stop with that ridiculous rapping of yours." Naruto shouted irritated.
"You hurt ma feelings but I don't care!" The bad Rapper sang.
Naruto ignored him and walked through the small gate who was quickly opened for them after they showed their proper identification."
"I assume you're Naruto?" he heard a familiar voice say.
He turned to his left and saw a dark skinned man with white hair looking at him with a lazy look.
Naruto nodded and walked over, he extended his hand which Darui shook. "I take it you're Darui?"
"Sumimasen, yes I'm Darui. I lead the defenses." He said as he looked Naruto up and down.
"Where's the Raikage? Shouldn't he be leading the fight?"
"He's preparing a surprise counter attack that will hopefully hurt hem badly.
Naruto thought it over. It was a good idea but the Reaver's massive amount of numbers would probably negate the attack. Darui knew it as well. The man may appear lazy but he wasn't stupid.
Naruto sat down and leaned against a wooden stand, the countless hours of fighting had really tired him out. "I'm going to take a small nap just punch me or something when there's trouble"
"Yo yo! Naru-" Killer Bee started but was cut off when he got tackled by Darui.
"Sumimasen, but Naruto is already asleep, so be quiet."
"Mister? What's going on?"
He looked down at the boy with cold calculated eyes, his hands slowly reaching for his kunai pouch.
"Stay away from my son! Please just let him leave! Let me take his place!" a middle aged man pleaded as he tried to crawl over.
"What you fail to understand is," He said as he grabbed one of the kunai. "That no one leaves this village alive."
With one quick motion he pierced the man's heart and quickly ended the young boy's life as well.
"NOOO! You monster!" the man screamed weakly as he slowly closed his eyes, his life fading fast, but not fast enough to avoid seeing his own son die.
Ghost could only wince and watch the lifeless bodies. "This isn't right…" he whispered.
"Ghost, are you finished with your part because I got some idiots who are actually trying to put up a fight and they are causing a distraction for the others to run away."
"Sir?"
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and saw the girl he saved earlier crouched in front of him. "I never got your name…? he asked while yawning.
"My name's Rae, You're Naruto right?" the brown haired girl asked.
Naruto nodded while he slowly stood up. "I take it you're a Chunin?" The blonde asked whil he slowly started walking towards the gate.
"Yeah, for a month now." She answered as she followed him.
"If I were you I'd make a run for it, get out of the village while you still can."
Rae stopped walking and looked at him with confusion. "You want me to abandon my fellow shinobi? My friends?"
Naruto stopped as well and turned halfway. "The village is done for, as well as every inhabitant in it. The enemy outside has a force two times the size your country had before the fight started."
"I'm not leaving! Even talking about this could be considered treason!" she hissed while she looked at him with angry eyes.
Naruto turned around and continued walking. "Then you will die."
Rae didn't listen and marched off.
Naruto shook his head and was about to look for Darui when an explosion shook the earth. The blonde looked around and almost lost his footing when a second explosion took place. 'Break's over I guess.'
The hunter sprinted to the wall and was met with a handful of shinobi who were clustered together going over their battleplans. Naruto switched on his radio and tried to contact Darui. "Darui, you there?"
There was a moment of silence before he heard Darui's strained voice. "I'm here; we need help at the gate, their trying to break through."
Before Naruto could respond a terrifying roar gripped his heart in fear. "No…" he whispered and looked to the sky.
Two dragons flew through the sky before landing on top of the wall, letting out another roar before one let out a large stream of fire, killing two junior shinobi.
Naruto grabbed a handful of kunai with exploding tags attached and threw it at the massive beasts. The tags exploded, causing the dragons to fly off again.
"Darui, we need Killer B here!" Naruto shouted in his mic while his eyes darted from the left to the right, trying to find the beasts.
"Sumimasen, Killer B is with Lord Raikage and is unable to help; you will have to hold them off until reinforcements arrive"
Before Naruto could even curse one of the creatures dove to the ground and rammed him through a building.
The blonde came to a skidding halt, eyes wide and breathing heavily. 'What the…' he tried to stand up but fell back down.
The ground underneath him shook as one of the dragons landed in front of him.
Refusing to give in to his fear he tore his gaze away from the ground and looked in the eyes of the dragon.
The dragon looked back and slightly tilted its massive head.
Naruto spat out a mouthful of blood, "If you think I'm finished you really are one stupid beast." He then formed a couple of handsigns "Kuchi-"
"Stop"
Naruto looked at him with a shocked expression. "Why?" was all the Hunter asked.
The beast rose back in its full height and spread its massive wings again, preparing to fly off. "Come to Uva tower in 14 days."
Before Naruto could respond the dragon flew away, leaving him behind with far more questions than answers.
"Naruto, Konoha has arrived with reinforcements but they have met heavy resistance. They're at the gates. How is the situation with the dragons?"
"Solved…for the moment. I'll move to the gate."
xXx
Rome shook his head. He looked up and saw Kenpachi approaching. Never before had he seen Kenpachi on a battlefield as this. Normally he'd have one of his off tacticians lead the battle.
He formed handsigns and then gripped his right wrist with his hand. "Remember this one big guy?"
Kenpachi narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
With his free hand he aimed the palm of his hand towards Kenpachi. "Tipora…" he whispered. A small beam shot towards Kenpachi who immediately remembered the attack.
Kenpachi dodged the attack with a single flashstep only to be met with a jack hammer to the back of his head.
Hitoshi panted and coughed but straightened himself and looked at Rome who nodded. He formed a couple of hand signs and then jumped back before shouting;"Doton: Doryūdan! A dragon head appeared out of the ground and started shooting balls of mud at the Kenpachi who was standing up again.
Kenpachi in return created the Reaper's infamous 'wave' and blasted it towards attack, not only overpowering Hitoshi's attack but also blasting the Hunter away.
"Hitoshi!" Rome shouted and flickered away, trying to grab the now seemingly lifeless body of Hitoshi.
Kenpachi interfered and slammed his fist in Rome's face, causing the Hunter to crash into the ground.
Micheru who had just finished of one of the lower ranked Reavers turned to see Kia, the brother of Hitoshi lying on the ground motionless, with a concerned Mayu looking over him.
"Shikamaru! Try and contact Kumo's headquarters again, we need them to flank them from behind." Sasuke shouted as he came sprinting past the Nara who was standing close to the blonde female hunter.
"Already trying" he quickly replied, while trying to contact Kumo with his headset.
Micheru looked around and saw shinobi fighting everywhere, from Iwa survivors to Suna elite shinobi.
"Micheru, send Hawke to us, we need his help right now!" Rome's voice ringed through Micheru's headset.
Micheru widened her eyes. 'Rome never sounds this desperate.' She quickly turned around and sprinted to where she last saw Hawke. "Hawke come in!" she shouted in her headset while jumping over a fallen body.
Hawke came skidding to a halt in front of her, blocking a Holder's vicious attack. "Whats up?" he asked rather calm.
Micheru threw a kunai towards the holder who tried to dodge, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by Hawke who had grabbed his wrist.
The Holder could only roar in anger as he saw death approaching.
Hawke watched as the body dropped to the ground. "What's going on Mich?"`
"Rome needs your help; he's near the main gate!"
Hawke immediately turned serious. "Let's go"
Before they could turn, a body came crashing in, his face was almost unrecognizable due to the massive beating he had received. The man tried to desperately get back up but failed and his head sagged back down to the ground.
Micheru's eyes widened in fear when she saw it was Hitoshi, She quickly kneeled next to him. "Hitoshi! Please say something!"
"He won't be standing up anytime soon, dear." A demonic voice boomed through the area.
Micher gasped and slowly tore her gaze away from Hitoshi and looked at the person standing a few feet away.
Kenpachi slowly approached her, killing intent leaked out of his body.
"Y-you…" she stuttered.
Kenpachi looked at her and gave her a cold smile. "I expected more from Hunters," he pointed to Hitoshi. "Worthless."
Hawke dashed forward and tried to slam his fist in Kenpachi's face, only to hit nothing but air.
"I should've dealt with this problem myself from the very start." Kenpachi said as he appeared behind Micheru, his claw aimed at her exposed back.
"Chidori!" a voice shouted. A bright light erupted, along with the sound of hundreds of birds chirping at once.
Kenpachi, who had no other choice, used flashstep to evade the attack looked at the newcomer at his new spot with narrowed eyes, "Interesting…but irrelevant." He disappeared again and appeared behind the man.
"Finally" Rome whispered as he finally got an opening in Kenpachi's defenses. He shun shined behind Kenpachi who was about to kill the dark haired man that was Sasuke. He unsheathed his Katana and in one fluid movement made a deep gash on the Reaver's back.
He was about to follow up but was interrupted by Kenpachi's elbow. He quickly flickered away and spat out a mouth full of blood.
Sasuke used the moment to turn around and delivered a sickening blow to Kenpachi's face who stumbled backwards. He quickly followed up with a ninjutsu. "Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!"
A dragon made out of flames erupted and soared toward Kenpachi was unable to dodge in time and got blasted away by it.
"Don't underestimate me" Sasuke said with a smirk and was about to turn around when he got a response.
"And you shouldn't underestimate your opponent." Kenpachi said before appearing before Sasuke and blew him away with another wave of red chakra at point blank range.
Sasuke could only scream out in pain as he in turn soared out of sight.
Rome dashed forward, his katana clutched in his hand; he quickly used a rock as support and jumped in midair, flipping over the dangerous Reaver, trying to cut him in half while doing so.
Kenpachi slowly leaned out of the way and dodged the attack, he quickly, in one fluid motion grabbed Rome's wrist, broke it and then snatched the blade out of his hand, before kicking him away. "Time for you to die Rome"
Kenpachi disappeared and appeared far behind Rome, his blade pointed towards Rome's back.
Micheru who had snapped out of her daze quickly tried to grab Rome out of his flight but got blasted away by one of Kenpachi's attacks and could only watch in fear as Rome got pierced by his own blade. "Nooo!" she screamed as she desperately tried to get back up.
Kenpachi grabbed Rome by the throat and pulled him in the air. "You were a respected opponent Rome Hiwa but to all things must come an end. And for you that time has finally come."
"Y-y-you," Rome spat out a mouthful of blood. "S-someone w-will end y-y-your existence." He clapped his hands together. "F-Fū-ton: Reppūshō!" the attack blew the both of them away from each other. Rome landed in front of Micheru, one of his hand twitched every so often.
Micher crawled to him, she couldn't see Kenpachi anywhere. While she tried to get to Rome she also opened all friendly radio frequencies. "A-anyone l-listening in? this is Micheru Sun calling in for immediate R-reinforcements…"
All she received was static.
Rain slowly started pouring down, making the battlefield all the more horrifying and realistic.
Micheru ignored it and instead tried to contact someone again. "Is there anyone on these frequencies…" again she received no answer. "Please…" she whispered as tears streaked her face. She looked down at Rome who looked at her with one eye barely open.
"Everyone is too busy fighting, darling." As if to prove his point, Kenpachi pointed to Hawke who was desperately trying to defeat his new foe, casting a fearful glance towards Micheru.
Micheru swallowed in fear and cradled Rome's body. "G-go away!" Where was her mom when she needed her the most!
Two Iwa survivors appeared, trying to catch the Reaver by surprise, only to be killed seconds later.
Kenpachi, who had grabbed his own sword prepared the killing blow, a cold smile crossed his scarred face.
Micheru looked up, in his eyes and what she saw was pure and utter horror.
"Today you finally get to die. You've been an annoyance for too long, Rome." Kenpachi barely even acknowledged Micher as a threat, and was about to cut the two of them in half when suddenly a sharp whistle halted Kenpachi's final blow and he looked up towards where the noise came from.
A couple of feet away stood a young man with blonde spikey hair dressed in a hunter's outfit. He walked over, relaxed, with his katana in its sheath lying over his right shoulder, while having it loosely grasped.
"Don't interfere if you want to live a little while longer."
Naruto chuckled. "I think you'll want to face me instead of Rome." He glanced around him; the battle for Kumo was in full swing. They were fighting on the walls and in the streets while the wounded desperately tried to head for safety
Kenpachi looked at him with narrowed eyes and that was all Naruto needed.
He disappeared with a flashstep and grabbed Rome and Micheru from the floor before disappearing with another flashstep.
When they arrived at their destination he softly laid them on the ground at Konoha's rallypoint. "It's time for you to head home. I'll make sure you guys can escape." Naruto said with a small smile.
"You can't be serious, you won't stand a chance!" Micheru whispered. She grabbed his hand, refusing to let him go.
"He's not going to stop until his heartbeat stops." He stood back up and turned around to Kenpachi who had followed them.
"Rome is mine, leave now so that you may live for another couple of days."
"You know, remember your son? Kane was it? Yea, I killed him. So who do you want to take down...some bald guy who only halted your previous invasion, or me," he pointed to himself." The guy who killed your offspring"
Kenpachi's eyes darted from Rome to Naruto before giving him a single nod. "So be it."
Naruto looked down at his hand and focused on his demonic chakra. Dark red swirls appeared around his claw encased hand, then slowly a dark glow appeared and his hand changed into that of a demon. "Bring it on." He motioned with his claw.
The Reaver and the Hunter disappeared and reappeared on top of the mostly destroyed wall, Kenpachi blocked Naruto's attack while the latter already formed a Rasengan in his hand and aimed it at the Reaver's head.
Kenpachi twirled around the attack and aimed for Naruto's exposed back, only to have it blocked by the back of Naruto's claw.
Giving Kenpachi not a second to counter, Naruto kneed his opponent in the stomach and was about to use that momentum to cleave the Reaver in half.
Only to scream in pain as Kenpachi made a wild but accurate slash with his own claw, making a deep gash across Naruto's chest.
He tried to ignore the pain and continued to exchange blows with Kenpachi who was showing only a minor form of exhaustion due to having fought multiple opponents the whole time.
Kenpachi tried a high kick, only to for Naruto to grab the limb and with some effort threw the Leader of the Reavers to the other side of the wall.
He quickly grabbed his katana from the ground and jumped after him, hoping to pierce the man's body while he was in midflight.
He slammed the tip of the blade down and for once he knew he could strike a serious blow.
Kenpachi saw the attack coming but couldn't twist his in time so he instead grabbed the incoming blade with his claw and limited the damage to the point that only the tip of the blade pierced his chest.
Naruto cursed and now knew he was open to a counter attack as well. He wasn't disappointed. His still outstretched arm got grabbed and got thrown away, down the wall.
Naruto flipped and landed on his feet but Kenpachi gave him no time to catch his breath and slammed his fist in Naruto's jaw, causing the blonde to be slammed in the wall.
Naruto slowly looked up and saw a couple of throwing knifes coming his way and quickly jumped out the way, he managed to get his footing and formed a couple of hand signs, "Futo-" but before he could finish his jutsu he was was cut off by Kenapchi who had landed right in front of him and jack hammered him into the ground.
"Kuso!" Naruto cursed and used flash step to catch his breath. He had various cuts across his face and blood seeped out of it and down his face. His clothing was already damaged at multiple places and started to expose his upper body.
Naruto looked to where Micheru and Rome were and saw with relief that they were long gone. He slowly grabbed his katana from the ground and looked at his slowly approaching opponent.
Naruto sighed and looked Kenpachi straight in his eyes. "What are you waiting for big guy?"
Kenpachi tilted his head; he increased his killer intent and slowly step by step approached Naruto.
'It was like he was looking at the Shinigami itself.' Naruto gasped. "You made a deal with the Shinigami didn't you?" finally coming to the realization that Kenpachi could have somehow contacted the Shinigami, that would explain how he got a demon and the eyes of death itself. The Yondaime and Sandaime did something similar but summoned the Shinigami in a sick and twisted way. Kenpachi could have done something along those lines as well.
Kenpachi said nothing and dashed forward, he slammed is blade into Naruto's and before the Hunter could even comprehend what happened next Kenpachi had already gashed open the right side of Naruto's face with his demonic claw
Naruto fell to his knees, clutching the right side of his face. His demonic chakra dissipated.
"Retribution." Was all Kenpachi said as he grabbed the Hunter by his throat and pulled him in the air.
The heavy rain hit him in the face and all he could do was gaze in Kenpachi's eyes, not even having the energy to move his arms.
Kenpachi let out a massive amount of killer intent before he blasted the blonde Hunter away with his red chakra.
Naruto flew through the air; everything was nothing but a daze to him. He landed lifeless onto the ground, not having the energy to get back up. His mouth was filled with blood and slowly oozed down his chin.
He tried to look but around but only was able to see with his left eye. Slowly with a shaking hand he reached for his right side of his face but collapsed his hand when he felt a sharp sting of pain around his face.
"Looky here! A Hunter! And it seems he's still alive"Naruto heard someone say and before he knew what happened he was kicked away and rolled on his side.
"Kill him already, would ya! The village is destroyed, their reinforcements as well, I want to head back to the camp and get me a nice lady!"
Naruto knew that no one would safe him so he placed his hands on the ground. "C-c-chakra…P-p-push" he instantly got blasted away and into an alley which was mostly filled with debris. With almost no chakra left and the loss of a lot of blood he slipped into unconsciousness.
xXx
Micheru and the others came to a halt close to the border of Shimo no Kuni. Here they had set up encampments and were treating the wounded.
Micheru was aimlessly walking through the camp and her only thought on her mind was how she had left Naruto behind. Kumo had fallen; the Raikage and his supposed counter attack also had failed utterly and probably lost most of his men.
Konoha had sent a lot of men along with Iwa survivors and Suna Shinobi, but they were still outnumbered and they quickly came to the conclusion that if they kept sending men to lost causes it would severely hurt them in the end. A decision to retreat was made quickly, leaving behind Kumogakure.
"Micheru!" the attractive blonde looked up and saw Hawke approaching.
She gave him a nod as acknowledgement but didn't respond in any other way.
"I know you feel bad but Naruto made his decision," he laid a hand on her shoulder and looked in her eyes. "He'll make it. We still have the Akatsuki harassing them so don't worry."
"We lost Hitoshi and Kia is in a coma! Rome won't be lasting the night and Naruto is probably dead!" she cried hysterically. "Don't you dare to tell me I shouldn't worry!" she slapped his hand away and marched off.
Mayu sadly looked at Rome who was barely breathing. She had tried everything she could but his lungs were punctured and he had massive internal bleeding. He most likely wasn't going to make it and that broke her heart in two.
She heard footsteps approaching and looked up. She saw Micheru standing in the opening of the tent with a tear stained face.
"I'm going back." Her daughter said resolutely.
"Like hell you are!" Mayu hissed and stood up. "We already lost too much; I refuse to let you go!"
"It's not up for debate. Mom! Stop treating me like your daughter and start treating me like a Hunter!"
She was about to respond, saying she never treated her like that, and though she was her daughter, she was also a Hunter and treated her like she treated everyone else.
But she couldn't, because she did treat her like her daughter most of the time. "It's…not that. Going back is suicide. Even if you weren't my daughter then I'd still not let you go because back there is nothing."
"Naruto could still be alive!" Micheru shouted with a furious look on her face.
"If he is, he'll use Flash step to meet up with us. Now this discussion is over." Mayu said with finality in her voice, ending the conversation.
The young blond hunter wanted to continue but decided against it and marched out
xXx
Naruto slowly regained consciousness and the first thing he noticed that although he was freezing because of the rain, the wound on his chest and face were throbbing, causing agonizing pain. He could barely move and couldn't help but feel utterly helpless. He tried anyways.
He slowly, with the help of the wall next to him got to his feet, only to collapse seconds later.
"Who's there?" he heard a female voice say with a slight quivering voice.
"Naruto looked around with his impaired sight but didn't see anyone. "W-Where are you?" he whispered with a hoarse voice.
He heard someone crawling to him and a soft gasp.
"Naruto!" he heard someone whisper.
He looked around but couldn't see anyone. He reached out with his hand and felt someone grasp it. "W-who are y-you" he whispered again before coughing up a lot of blood. He closed his eyes and wanted to slip into the darkness again but someone didn't let him.
He felt his head being lifted in the air before softly being placed on something comfortable and warm. With a lot of effort he opened his eyelids. He still couldn't see from his right eye but what he saw made him smile.
"H-hey, Hinata…" he said and realized he was resting on her lap.
"Naruto-kun, what happened to your right eye?!" she whispered and gently touched his face, causing him to wince
He felt himself slowly slipping away again but he tried to respond nonetheless. "I t-take it there's s-something wrong -ith it?"
Hinata looked away for a moment before she gave him a sad look. "It's…it's gone"
Naruto didn't respond and instead welcomed the darkness. 'Kuso…'
Dayaaaaamn people am I bastard or whaaat?
I'm sorry for that cheesy Hinata insertion here and at first I wanted to add Rae, the girl Naruto saved earlier but decided to go for Hinata instead.
Next chapter will be relatively short but that will also mean that the update will come faster this time ;)
Until next time peeps and don't forget to review!