Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or anything other than my OCs.
Kori ducked out of the way as Naruto's fist came flying her way and she returned his blow with a fist to the gut. White smoke billowed around her and she clicked her tongue in frustration, "Another clone?"
Screaming a loud battle cry, Naruto came charging in with two more clones in front of him. In his hand was the byproduct of Asahina's lesson; the almost completed Rasenshuriken.
She clapped her hands together in a seal and blew out hard, "Suiton: Teppodama (Water Style: Liquid Bullet)!"
Naruto struck out at the massive ball of pressurized liquid with his new jutsu. Water went flying in random directions as the ball of rotating chakra tore through. The shriek of the Rasenshuriken, the sound of wind type chakra mashing together and shearing through the air, grew louder momentarily and Naruto continued to barrel forward.
She gasped and stumbled backwards in surprise. Just as the technique was about to connect with her waist, the sound vanished and the area grew silent. The Rasenshuriken shrank down drastically and quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was gone. No damage done. She took her chance and retaliated.
Naruto screamed out in pain as a roundhouse kick sent him flying backwards into the base of the waterfall. He came up sputtering and coughing, "Damn it! Why does that happen every time?!"
Asahina laughed almost proudly, "It happens because you underestimate the weight of Kori's technique. You cut through it each and every time but you have trouble keeping your flow of chakra constant. If you stop adding the wind type chakra, your technique will vanish because you think of them as the same. Manipulating the nature of your chakra is difficult because most people think of manipulating chakra as the same as manipulating the nature. They're alike but not the same."
"How come Kori's technique doesn't give out halfway?" Naruto complained, climbing out of the water dripping wet, "It's not fair."
"That particular technique utilizes both the shape and nature manipulation parts of chakra control in two separate parts. Kori kneads the chakra within and converts that strength into the liquid using nature manipulation. When the technique is released, it's conformed into a condensed shape to maximize damage." Asahina explained, "It's a C-ranked technique because it's easy to use and there's no way for the chakra to be depleted from the technique once it's been released. It can't disappear like your Rasenshuriken because it doesn't require a constant stream of chakra."
"Hmm… So that means…" Naruto thought about it long and hard and then he grinned at her sheepishly, "What does that mean? I didn't understand a single word of what you said."
Annoyed, Asahina passed the explanation onto Yamato, "Tenzo, it's all you."
"Hahah…" Yamato could only laugh awkwardly. Both Kakashi and Asahina were troublesome people, leaving all the hard stuff to him. Although he hardly knew the woman, he could see why they were together. "Listen Naruto. You're only struggling because the level of your technique is high. You just need more time to practice."
"Alright! One more time!" Naruto's voice held twice as much enthusiasm as before, "Don't hold back, Kori!"
There wasn't an option to hold back in the first place. Kori grinned, "Understood."
Naruto was as fierce as he was last time. Two clones rushing forward to keep the Hyuga distracted as he prepared his technique. Both clones vanished after being sharply shot down by a pair of shuriken. She directed her next set of weaponry at the original Naruto. Unable to complete his technique, he was forced to abandon the Rasenshuriken to create more clones.
She couldn't let him back away so easily. Her hands formed several signs, "Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Water Trumpet)!"
One by one Naruto's clones were shot down by sharp blasts of water.
"Naruto, fight back!" Asahina demanded, "You're focusing too much on that technique! In a real battle, you'll have to create an opening to use it!"
"Got it!" Naruto's fierce retaliation began.
His opponent was luckily agile and swift. No matter how many clones tumbled her way and no matter how many punches were thrown, her full-field of vision gave her all the chances she needed to dodge or block any that came her way.
"Kori, turn around!" Asahina warned.
From her blind spot and hidden behind the mass of shadow clones that were now no more, Naruto and two other clones were charging forward with the Rasenshuriken howling in his palm.
Spinning on her heels, she sent her own technique his way, "Suiton: Teppodama (Water Style: Liquid Bullet)!"
With a mighty scream, Naruto charged forward, plowing through the sphere of water with the Rasenshuriken in front of him. He saw the signs she was weaving but he continued forward.
"Suiton: Hahonryuu (Water Style: Tearing Torrent)!" The Hyuga held up her hands and the water came pouring forward from her palms with the force of a raging waterfall. She drew her hands closer together, the two streams of water merging into one from the close proximity.
Naruto barreled forward nonetheless, his Rasenshuriken tearing through the stream easily. Suddenly, the shriek of the winds died down and the mass of chakra fizzed out and lost its vigor, "Eh?... AGGHHH!"
With his technique gone there was nothing left to protect him from the rush of water that continued to surge forward relentlessly from the girl's palms. Naruto was sent flying back into the waterfall and the battle was over.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" He howled as he surfaced from the water, "Why?! WHY?! WHY?! ONE MORE TIME!"
One more time was a very, very strong understatement.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Kai was extremely irritated. Why? He had been searching the village all morning for Hyuga Kori and yet, he couldn't find her. He had been to her house and Neji had chased him away just as quickly as he had come. He had asked Kiba, the dog lover said he hadn't seen her. The memorial tablet was barren of living souls, the graveyard was empty save for a still-mourning Kurenai, and their usual training spot was much too quiet. How could this be anything other than frustrating?
The worst part of it was that he had run into the wrong person and said person was now following him around on his search whilst blabbering on and on about his day.
"Anyways, I kept the oddly-shaped kunai and I made another batch for the customer." Toshizo was grinning without an ounce of concern for his friend's sour mood, "Good thing I started on an order that wasn't due yet. I would've been in so much trouble."
"Yeah." Kai grunted back. He had long since given up on searching for Kori in peace and silence. This annoying chunin had ruined those plans and now the blonde had no choice but to pretend to care about the blacksmith's daily screw ups, "By the way, make me some but make sure you don't touch them. Ask your old man to make them."
"Ehhh? I can make you some by the end of the week." The burly chunin said with much enthusiasm.
"No." The blonde insisted, "Make sure you don't go anywhere near them. I don't want any failures in my inventory. Your old man's work is more than adequate but your work is untrustable. I don't want any wobbly knives or brittle edges."
"Alright… A dozen alright for you?"
The jonin nodded, "And a dozen shuriken."
"Is that all, your royal highness?"
Another nod and then a sharp change of the heart, "Make that two dozen of each."
"You don't need that many! I've never seen you use them!"
"I ran empty when we fought those masked Akatsuki fools." Kai admitted, "And the other dozen are for Kori."
"I see."
"..."
"..."
"No."
Toshizo took an odd sideways glance at his friend, "I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it." The blonde snapped, "I'm not going to make a move on her now."
"You really should hurry. She's sending more and more letters to Suna."
"Like I said, it's not possible for me to lose out to someone who sees her once a year." He grumbled, "Anyways, shut up and help me find her!"
The chunin shrugged and agreed since he had nothing else to do.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Yui stared at the scene before her in terror. On her mission to trail after Sai while keeping an eye on Naruto, she had discovered just how powerful and fearsome jinchurikis could be. She had determined that they were monsters to be feared.
Kori, one of her valued teammates, kept one of those very beasts as her close friend. Even if the beast was Sunagakure's Kazekage, Yui was certain that he would bring harm upon her teammate. She wanted to prevent Kori's naive trust of these beasts but it appeared that she was a step too late.
One of the very monsters that she was trying to keep away from her friend was screaming and shouting complaints while sending his army of shadow clones charging towards her friend. Kori didn't appear to be in a situation she couldn't handle but Yui found herself unable to assess the situation for some reason or another. Her ANBU mask in place, she jumped right into the fight with her sword drawn. One swipe of her blade sent two clones up in a cloud of smoke.
All at once, the attention of Naruto and Kori that were previously focused on each other was now focused on the masked ANBU op. Both had drawn their own knives in retaliation, tensely searching for a chance to fight back.
Realization flashed across the white eyes of the Hyuga, "Y-Yui?!"
"Yui-chan?" Naruto repeated the name himself, looking extremely confused.
"Hmm?" For the first time Yui realized the presence of Asahina and Yamato but only because the pregnant jonin stepped out of the shadow of the trees to reveal herself, "Yui? Did Kakashi send you too?"
"Negative." Yui murmured, confused about the happenings, "I came of my own will. I have business with Kori."
"Me? Do I have a mission?" The Hyuga asked, putting away her weapon.
"That's not the case either. I have a personal matter to discuss with you." The light haired beauty explained, "I've come to warn you about some potential dangers."
"Dangers? Are we being attacked?" Naruto gasped, turning his head in every direction.
Yui shot the blonde a deadly glare, "Not you."
"Ehh? I'm not?"
"You might be if you overstep your boundaries." Yui said firmly, "Watch your step."
"Wait?" Naruto turned to his two mentors, "So are we in danger or are we not?"
"Yui. What is this about?" Asahina demanded, a protective hand laid over her rounded belly, "If there's some sort of danger, we need to know about it."
"I have some private information to share with Kori."
"Me?" The Hyuga's eyes took a sweeping glance around, "Something you can't share with our allies?"
"Affirmative."
"What is this about?"
Yui hesitated a moment but she insisted, "Privately."
Finally relenting, Kori followed the ANBU op a fair distance away from the confused trio of unsuspecting shinobi, "It's something you couldn't say in front of Naruto, isn't it?"
"You're as sharp as ever." Kyrie admitted, nodding as confirmation to the younger girl's suspicions, "Were you aware that he was a monster?"
"The monster is inside." Her dark haired companion spoke sharply, "Naruto is a human being. The monster is the fox on the inside."
"Have you ever seen that beast?" Yui said, her voice holding more bite than ever before, "That demon is more powerful than any human being could handle. Naruto cannot control the demon. It's the demon that controls him. It's the same for your friend, the Kazekage. I came to warn you."
"Gaara-sama's not a monster!" Kori was genuinely offended for her friend. There was a time where she had also feared Gaara but that time had passed long ago. "They're trying hard to prove that they're just like us."
"Do you even know what that monster can do?" Yui pressured her teammate, "Have you ever seen his fearsome power? If you saw it, you wouldn't-!"
"I've seen it! Several times!" Kori snapped, feeling the injustice. Gaara wasn't even a jinchuuriki anymore. There's no reason for him to be called a monster. Zero reason because the monster hiding within was already extracted, "There's no need for you to be worried about this kind of stuff. They're our friends. They wouldn't hurt us on purpose."
"That's not an absolute fact. Naruto lost control of the monster within and attacked Sakura." Yui was just stating the facts. The facts that should have been enough to persuade her teammate into taking precautionary steps. "There is no guarantee that Naruto won't hurt you and there is even less certainty in the mix for a foreign ninja like Gaara. You would be wise to avoid the danger altogether by avoiding the two of them."
Kori knew that the sanity of the bijuu hosts was not a certain fact. She had faced the one-tailed Shukaku's wrath once before and it was an experience she wouldn't want to relive but fearing the hosts of the tailed beasts wouldn't get her anywhere. The jinchuuriki were not at fault for the beasts caged within their bodies.
Yui's eyes widened at the determined silence of her teammate. She could do nothing but relent to the stubbornness of the jonin. "I don't know if you're naive or stupid."
"I wouldn't mind being either." The Hyuga smiled in a manner that didn't betray an ounce of her thoughts or inner feelings.
If Yui's insult had bothered her, she didn't reveal it at all. The former Mist ninja was disturbed by the Hyuga's lack of self-preservation skills. An insult should be repaid with an insult and yet, the dark-haired jonin had just skipped it over. That wasn't right and yet, Yui had always known that Kori was just like that. It was the way she was and it might be the way she always is.
The ANBU op sighed, "That's most unfortunate. I'll desist here if you can promise that you'll take the utmost care not to invoke the anger of those beasts."
"I don't know anything about beasts but I can promise that I won't make Naruto or Gaara-sama angry on purpose." Another smile. "I value their friendship a little more than that, you know."
Yui gave the expected response no verbal reply. She simply nodded and vanished into the shadows to return to their base of operation.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
"Kyrie has returned." A deep voice announced her presence the minute she entered the fourway path.
"Kyrie, there's a mission for you." Sai stood off to one side, clearly making room for her to pass between the handful of shinobi gathered around the area.
Danzo was awaiting her in the center of the split pathways as he always is when there is a mission to be given. His old eye was narrowed on her as if he was assessing her trustworthiness one last time.
"Yes, sir?" She knelt before him as was the custom, "What mission is being bestowed on me?"
"It is a mission of betrayal and harsh consequences should you fail." Danzo was not warning her, he was not giving her an option, he was telling her the reality of things. "Kyrie, you are to intercept specific messages leaving this village for foreign grounds. Sai will be intercepting messages coming into this village from foreign lands."
"Messages?" Yui was certain that this was not a job that needed to be assigned to two people. One person would be sufficient in detaining written messages so why was Danzo splitting this job between two?
"Specifically, they're letters between a kunoichi in this village and a foreign power." Danzo said, his visible eye narrowing further as if he were threatening her to pretend that she didn't know what he was talking about now.
An odd sense of dread filled her. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Yui fixed her eyes onto the feet of the older shinobi. Now she knew why this mission was split between the two of them. Danzo didn't trust her to betray Kori. Sai was assigned to the job to guarantee that the letters were stopped one way or another.
"The messenger hawks carry those letters out at various times. I want you to figure out what times they take those messages and intercept them just outside the village. The barrier around this village makes it impossible for you to leave and return undetected but they will not be suspicious. ANBU ops leave and return in secret at my command daily." Danzo spoke firmly, his tone daring her to fail this simple mission, "Sai will hold onto the letters that arrive from Sunagakure after I read them. The two of you will make sure that no one discovers those letters along with this mission. I have intercepted the first letter from Sunagakure today but I've decided it to give it to her. It would be too suspicious if they just suddenly disappeared so you should not prevent every single one from reaching the recipient. Every other one, perhaps? It's at your discretion. Use your good judgement. This is for her good and for the good of the village."
A long, heavy silence fell over them. Yui had no problems with previous orders but this was not just unjust, it was betrayal. The friend that had welcomed her into Konoha with the same smile she showed her village mates deserved better treatment than this act of disloyalty but what choice did she have? The mission had been dropped upon her at the most fortunate time. This was how she could protect her naive companion from the dangers of Sunagakure's jinchuuriki. Kori would never have to feel the same fear that she felt as she watched Naruto rampage about with no self-control.
"Understood." Kyrie replied knowing there was no other option. Her unstable emotions stirred up again when Sai's eyes showed the smallest glint of surprise. He must've thought she would surely refuse. "May I begin my research of the aviary building's hours now?"
Satisfied, Danzo gave a subtle nod, "Yes. You may go now."
As she was leaving the building in the hours of oncoming darkness, Sai called out to her as she thought he would, "Kyrie!"
She didn't stop. Her conscience would not allow her to do so. She could almost predict Sai's words but she could not refuse a mission. There was nothing more important than a mission for a ninja. She knew that in the deepest reaches of her mind and heart but her conscience contradicted that.
A small almost non-existent voice in the back of her head was desperately screaming out to her, "Kori deserves better."
"Kyrie!" Sai grasped her arm and pulled her to an abrupt stop, "She is your comrade. Your friend. Are you sure that accepting this mission is a wise decision?"
There was an unseen hesitation in her response and it stirred up those strange voices in her head once more, "Missions cannot be refused. That is all we have as shinobi. You were the one to teach me that. Have you forgotten what it means to be a ninja?"
"Let me ask you instead, have you forgotten what it's like to share a bond with someone?" Sai's question had visibly thrown her off, "Those connections you share cannot be replaced."
"For someone who had no emotions, you speak of such things as if you know." She said sharply in return, "Don't speak if you have no experience with such things. You have no people to share those bonds with and you have no friends. What do you know about irreplaceable connections?"
Sai was not hurt by the words that would insult a normal person. To him, those words, however harsh they may sound, were nothing more than her defense against his own sharp probing, "I'm still learning and I don't know as much as the people you call friends but I'm certain that this is not what you do to comrades. Naruto has shown me that there are some things more important than missions, some emotions that can never be erased from even the toughest of shinobi. They showed me that bonds are precious things that are meant to be protected and although they may not think of me as their comrade just yet, I've come to trust them. At the very least, I'd like to think that you and I have established some sort of connection during our time here. You are different from the others. Don't you see that you're trying to give up something you should be treasuring?"
"I am treasuring it." She finally tore her arm from the male's grasp, "She shouldn't be talking to that monster. I am protecting her even if she doesn't see it that way and quite frankly, I don't think this is any of your business. You have your mission and I have mine. If you want to oppose the requirements of our task, you can fail your mission but I won't fail mine."
"She's not my friend. She's yours. You should be the one pleading for me to fail my mission not telling me that you won't be failing yours." He tried one last time but his feelings didn't reach her, "You're making a mistake."
She simply turned over her shoulder as she went on her way and said in the most emotionless voice, "And who are you to tell me that? Mind your own business."