Hinata of the White Lotus

The Shrine

Hinata fidget awkwardly in the boat, staring at her companion as she operated the motor and steered them towards Toyama island.

Sunset was nearly upon them, and she could feel the final rays of light burning at the back of her neck. It wouldn't be too much longer now. The Moonfire Flower would blossom under the light of the full moon and she would have to pluck it.

"So have you been to any of the other shrines yet?" Hinoshita Rei suddenly asked, seemingly only to make small talk. She was smiling politely, eyes practically beaming as she looked at Hinata. It would seem she had grown up on tales of Kali's previous reincarnations and was just excited at getting the chance to finally meet one. Which only made Hinata feel terrible for how much she didn't actually know.

"T-this is the first one…" Hinata mumbled, not able to maintain eye contact for any longer and instead glancing back at the mountain that was growing larger and larger the closer they got to it. While it had appeared small enough to hold in her hand when they set out, it loomed ominously over them now. Getting to the top in time was going to be a challenge even if she moved as fast as her legs would take her.

"Really!?" Rei clapped her hands together in obvious thrill. "I can't believe it, that means I'm the first of the clan to escort you to the shrine!?" Now that she said that, the Hinoshita clan did sound oddly familiar to Hinata, but she couldn't place where she had heard the name before. Had it perhaps been in one of the scrolls left behind by her previous reincarnation?

"Do you communicate often with the other members of the clan?" Hinata asked, careful not to give away how little she actually knew about everything. It wasn't like she was actually a fraud or anything, and she really had come to look at the shrine at Kali's request, but that was the limit of her knowledge. She didn't even know there was a clan dedicated to looking after the shrine.

"Hmm… not more than a couple of the nearest shrines." Rei admitted, her smile taking on a tinge of sadness. "I mean, there's just too many for me to really keep in touch with everyone, you know? What with there being eighty-eight shrines and all."

"Ei-" Hinata caught herself just in time, having nearly repeated the number out loud. But still, eighty-eight shrines? And she was expected to eventually go to all of them? Not just that, but the Hinoshita clan was far larger than she had initially assumed, if there were enough of them to cover every single one. "I'm… glad to hear you maintain contact with even a few." Hinata corrected, hoping that line covered for her near slip.

"That's sweet of you!" Thankfully it seemed to work, Rei smiling as defenselessly as ever. "We're not quite as prominent or as powerful, since we never did develop the Byakugan, like our cousins in the Hyuga clan, but we have our own pride. So I'm really relieved to see that the Shrine Maiden is someone as sweet as you."

"...I see." Hinata said as neutrally as she was capable of. So the Hinoshita's and Hyuga were related then? Now that Hinata thought about it, Kali had mentioned she never had any off-spring of her own. Yet this clan was dedicated to serving her reincarnations. Was it the pity of the Hyuga ancestors, bestowing a role upon a clan that hadn't inherited their power? It was pointless to speculate, of course.

"Here we are then!" Rei announced, slowing the boat as she prepared to dock. Hinata turned back to see the shore of the island just before them now. Almost the entirety of the island was the mountain itself. There was a small beach and a dock similar to the one they left from. That beach quickly gave way to a mountain-side forest. Leading from the dock and into the forest was a stone staircase. Under the shadow of the mountain the staircase looked dark and intimidating. "Should I guide you to the top…?" Rei asked hesitantly, apparently remembering that Hinata had mentioned needing to be there by twilight.

"No, it's okay." Hinata shook her head. "I just follow the stairs?" At the very least, that should get her to the shrine. From there, however…

"That's right." Rei confirmed. "It's about two thirds up the mountain. There's only the one path, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting lost." That meant she would need to follow it up to the shrine and from there she would need to find her own way to the mouth of the volcano. Not that it should be too hard, she just had to go up the slope, right?

"Thank you." Hinata jumped off the boat the moment Rei had pulled it up alongside the dock, not even waiting for her to secure it. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She bowed deeply, and upon lifting her head saw Rei waving her off. With a final nod she turned around and pumped chakra into her feet. With a powerful leap she was off, sprinting up the stairway.

The pathway was dark enough by this point that she needed to activate her Nichiren Byakugan in order to even see her own feet in front of her. The sun hadn't quite set just yet, but in the shadow of the mountain it was impossible for her to tell exactly just how much more time she had. The moon would only be visible from the mouth of the volcano for a very short amount of time, even if the moon itself was visible elsewhere all night. So her window of opportunity was just that.

The question now was, should she take care of the shrine before the flower or after? As far she knew, there was no real time limit at which it had to be done. However, she didn't want to leave the shrine only to have trouble finding it again on her way back down either.

Sweat dotted her forehead and she felt a slight shortness of breath as she continued full tilt up the mountain. The rapid change in elevation appeared to be getting to her. Even so, she pushed herself to the limits, ignoring the pain in her lungs and the sudden throbbing in her head.

It was in this state she reached the shrine. Hinata had been picturing a rather large temple, much like the ones found in Konoha. However, this one was nothing of the sort. There was a small torii gate to announce she had arrived and then just a small pedestal. Placed on the pedestal was a statue of… something.

"What is…" Hinata asked out loud, the disgust leaking openly into her voice. It was enough to make her feel sick no matter how you looked at it. The body was weird and elongated, ten tails menacingly sticking out from the rear. It had three faces- if you could even call them that. One side was no more than an eye, the other a mouth, and the third a single ear.

She had been so focused on the statue itself she failed to realize the near pitch darkness emitting around it. This wasn't the natural darkness of the sun being eclipsed by the mountain, but something much more sinister. It reminded her of that feeling she got when Orochimaru had attacked her. This was corrupted natural energy and the statue was absorbing it…

Suddenly Hinata was aware that her headache was more than just a lack of oxygen in the air. This statue was making her sick. No sooner did that thought hit her and Hinata had to run to the side, puking out the contents of her stomach as if to try and expel some kind of curse.

This… this couldn't wait. No matter how desperate Hinata was to get that flower and save Kurenai, whatever was happening in front of her was far more urgent. It was no small miracle something hadn't happened here already.

Wiping the vomit clinging to the edge of her lip, Hinata slumped down into a meditative position. Entering into Kali's dimension took a little more effort than normal, but all the same she managed it.

"I see you've arrived." Kali said in greeting, her face twisted in a grimace as she glanced around her. The impure natural energy outside was so thick it appeared to even be infecting this dimension, the normally glowing Pinyin slightly dimmed and a black fog clinging to what little light there was. "It's worse than I thought." She added.

"Kali… this is-?" Hinata tried to speak, but a moment later she was brought to her knees and let out a ragged cough. For a moment, she thought that she might vomit again, her whole body dry heaving several times.

"Yeah, this is bad." Kali hopped down from her usual position atop the flattened Truthseeker Orb and walked over to Hinata, placing a hand atop her head. Pure natural energy flowed from the tips of her fingers, causing a flash of bright light and Hinata immediately felt the throbbing of her head go away, if only slightly. "Can you feel what it is that I'm doing, Hinata?" Kali asked her.

"Y-yes." Hinata nodded, not trusting her voice to say much else for the time being. There were a million things she wanted to ask, but it would seem that would all have to come for later. As always seemed to be the case.

"Just like this, you need to place your hand on the head of that statue." Kali instructed. "Then you need to pour out the natural energy you've been absorbing through your Nichiren Byakugan and purify it. But be careful, the impure energy has a mind of its own and it will try to contaminate you. From there, it's going to turn into a battle of wills. You need to overcome it."

"Is that really all there is to it?" Hinata couldn't help but ask, feeling strength return to her body. She knew a battle of wills against nature itself wasn't exactly something to sniff at, but she expected the process of purification to be more elaborate.

"Normally there is a proper ritual that weakens the will of the impurity and reduces the risk to yourself," Kali admitted, before then adding, "but the situation here has grown too unstable. We don't have the time to perform such a ritual. I'll be backing you up, so don't worry too much about the details. Just acting as a conduit to release natural energy into the statue should be enough."

"But what is that thing…?" Hinata couldn't stop herself from at least asking that. The question caused Kali to frown in disgust, as if just thinking about the statue also made her sick.

"An idol that acts as a gathering point for impurities." She answered. "The Hinoshita clan refer to it as the Ame no Hitotsu no Kami, but it goes by many other names. All you need to know for now is that the original is what brought impurities into this world. So we use its shape to attract those impurities into these hot-spots." In other words, the eighty-eight shrines that Rei had talked about. "By focusing the impurities in these spots, it makes it more manageable for my reincarnates to track down and purify them, rather than letting them run wild and appear at random."

"So that's why…" Hinata had thought it was some kind of perverse religion for a second. She realized now that the shape of the god was purposefully off-putting because it had to be in order for the impurities to gather. Otherwise this method would never work. Not that it made it any less revolting having to be near it.

"Even still, something here is strange." Kali admitted. "It shouldn't have gotten to this point already. It's almost like it's reacting to something…" She shook her head. "Whatever it is, we can figure it out later. For now, let's take care of it."

"Right." Hinata nodded, briefly closing her eyes as she attempted to memorize the feeling of Kali's fingers placed atop her head and the way the natural energy was flowing from them into her. "I think I have it." She said, although she couldn't actually say it with confidence.

"Good." Kali took a step back, her fingers sliding from Hinata's head. "I'm sure I don't have to say this… but stay on your guard. I have no idea how things are going to develop this time around." Hinata nodded one last time, before closing her eyes and ending the meditation.

When she opened her eyes back up she was once again in front of the shrine. If possible it was even darker than before. Was that because of the impurities or because the sun had already gone down? At this point she had no idea. Either way, she had to hurry.

Hinata stumbled to her feet, reaching towards the idol. She hesitated for a second, the one eye of the statue seemingly glaring at her, despite the fact that shouldn't have been possible. After all, this thing wasn't alive… right? Shaking her head to clear the thought, Hinata placed her fingers atop the head.

With her Nichiren Byakugan, she then traced the flow of natural energy. She could see what was causing the imbalance now. Even in nature, there was supposed to be a yin and a yang that existed in harmony with one another. However, the yin balance was far too off here, completely overpowering the yang around it. That was the cause of this impurity. So all she had to do was…

Hinata began taking the flow of natural energy that was mixing with her own chakra and pumping out an exuberant amount of yang energy. The moment she did and her knees buckled and she nearly fell over.

It was like something was screaming directly in her ears. No- screaming, wasn't the right word. That made it sound like something a human was capable of doing. This noise, however, no creature of this plane was capable of such a cry. It was foreign, it was terrifying, it was dizzying. Hinata's throat went dry and tears welled up in the corner of her eyes.

She thought about crying out. No, it wasn't a thought. She tried to scream. But no sound accompanied the desire. Or maybe she was screaming and she just couldn't hear it over whatever this other-worldly cacophony was.

"Hinata! Calm down!" A familiar voice penetrated through the noise, calming Hinata's nerves and giving her something to zero in on. "That's right, focus on me!" It was Kali. Ordinarily she couldn't communicate with her in the outside world, but Kali seemed to be forcing herself through the connection. A final counter-measure or something she was only capable of intermittently, Hinata didn't know, but she was thankful for the support. "Reverse the flow!" Kali's warning jolted Hinata back to her senses.

She was supposed to have been pushing natural energy into the idol, but instead the idol had pushed back at her. Hinata could no longer see her arm, like it had disappeared completely, replaced by nothing more than a shadow. That shadow had stretched to cover her entire arm and was working its way halfway through her torso. "Ah!" Hinata let out a startled yelp. She would have pulled back, but it was like she was fused to the idol. There was no escape now.

It was eat or be eaten.

Gritting her teeth, Hinata doubled- tripled her resolve. She forced the yin flow of natural energy back and unleashed as much yang as she could. It was painfully inadequate, but she wasn't alone. Kali's chakra joined hers and together they pushed back against the darkness. No, that wasn't perhaps the right word for it. This wasn't a battle of yin and yang, per se. This was a battle between balance and imbalance. They were pushing back to restore the balance.

The blackness receded from her torso and down her arm until only her fingertips were still lost to the impurity. Then they pushed beyond that. Rather, it was Hinata who pushed. Kali provided the power and Hinata was the one who wielded it. It was like she was an idol herself, simply a conduit for Kali's massive power to do battle against forces beyond her own comprehension.

The further they pushed, the more Hinata felt her confidence grow. She could do this, along with Kali's help than even she wasn't incapable of doing her job. That confidence must have been important, because the moment it swelled up inside of her they were able to push the darkness all the way back to the idol. In one fell swoop they push it through the entire statue and down into the podium it was placed upon. The very floor at Hinata's feet glowed white and the torii gate behind her vibrated with energy.

"Good, Hinata! That's it!" Kali praised. The physical manifestation of dread around them rescinded, as if being beaten back by the light. The shrine itself was entirely purified of the imbalance.

They had done it!

At least… that should have been the case.

"As I thought… this is wrong." Kali muttered darkly. Hinata didn't understand what she was talking about at first. Then she saw it. The shrine had been purified certainly, but the impurity had spread beyond the borders of the shrine already. It had been leaking down the side of the mountain and now a wall of darkness stood in front of them.

There was something like an audible snap. The impurity outside of the shrine ripped free from the purified light Hinata and Kali were casting. That was right, it didn't just fall free- it ripped itself free, as if an existence with its own will and desire.

There was something like that otherworldly scream… and then it looked at them. From within the pure black darkness, a single lidless white eye glared at them. The eye was something like the Byakugan, yet it was simultaneously something completely unlike it. Hinata lacked the vocabulary to describe it better than that. She would go as far as to say human language hadn't developed a word to explain this paradox.

The darkness took on a shape. Something remotely resembling a head filled in the shape around the lidless Not-Byakugan. Two lanky, impossible long arms grew from the torso. On its back it looked like it was carrying a small mountain. No legs formed, but instead a single fat tail. If Hinata had to liken it to a creature of some kind, she would say it was a demented snail.

From the mouth it didn't have the creature roared. What kind of roar it was, she had no idea. Was it terrified? Angry? Hungry? Perhaps elated at its own birth? You could have told her it was any of these things and she would have believed you. Whatever it was feeling right now, led the creature to flee.

It ran around the side of the shrine and the protective purifying light. It wasn't that it ignored Hinata and Kali, it would be more accurate to say it had fled from them. From there it descended, disappearing into the darkness of the mountain below.

"No!" Hinata yelled, turning to give chase after it. She couldn't see it anymore, but she could hear it tear its way through the forest, destroying anything and everything in its path. That shouldn't have been possible. Only with her Nichiren Byakugan could she see the impurities and interact with them. Yet this one was already interacting with the world around it. This meant it had already transcended from its very nature and pushed beyond the boundaries of what it should be capable of.

"You need to go after it!" Kali called into Hinata's ear. Like Asura with Naruto, she was more of a shade of chakra clinging to Hinata's back. Like swirling energy that had only taken the shape of a person by coincidence. In such a shape, it was a miracle she could speak at all, a testament to how far she was pushing the link to accomplish this.

"B-But…" Hinata's body was poised to go running after it. Yet for some reason she hadn't moved so much as an inch. No, it wasn't just some reason. She turned around looking back up towards the peak of the mountain.

The sun had already gone down. And while she couldn't see it, the moon was certainly there. The Moonfire Flower. If she didn't pick it, Kurenai was going to die.

And if she didn't chase after that aberration, an entire city of people might die.

Naruto vs Kimimaro

"Shit!" Naruto jumped to the side, barely dodging the swing of the giant ogre wielding a massive club.

The club slammed into the ground, splitting it apart and sending hunks of dirt flying in every direction. The hunks of earth flew past Naruto fast enough to cause a whistling in his ears. He landed in a crouch, hands already forming the seals to unleash his jutsu.

"Mokuton: Wood Binding Jutsu!" He shouted. At the same time, the clone he had hidden beneath the ground the ogre just struck jumped up and latched onto the ogre. The clone burst into an entanglement of wood that bound the ogre's limbs and sent it crashing down. Only for a second ogre to strike the binding branches and free its brother.

"I see… so that's how your jutsu works." The white-haired man said lazily, as if it didn't concern him. He hadn't moved once yet this entire battle. From the moment the sun began to sink over the horizon until now, with the full moon appearing in the sky above. He simply stood there and watched as Naruto jumped around, dodging the ogres that attacked him.

Naruto, for his part, had attempted to close the gap several times, but the ogres were too damn persistent and any chance he took to move towards his human opponent just resulted in those ogres blocking his way. In the first place, he didn't have the slightest idea how these things worked.

Were they conscious beings? Were they summons that were being controlled somehow? He believed the latter to be true if only because there was no way for them to see or hear, their eyes blinded and ears shut.

Despite not knowing anything, it would appear his opponent had figured him out.

"Oh yeah, why don't you tell me then if you're really so smart… you- uh…" Naruto grinned at his unmoving opponent, trying to hide his labored breaths behind the over-confident facade.

"...Kimimaro." His opponent finally named himself before he then just stared at him silently for several seconds, apparently weighing the pros and cons of dragging this battle out. "Well, I suppose the longer this goes, the higher chance there is of the Hyuga girl returning." He relented. For the second time, Naruto blinked in surprise.

Wasn't this guy supposed to be here for him? Just like how Itachi and Kisame had been, wasn't this guy also after the fox? No, that didn't seem to be the case and instead he was hunting down Hinata. That didn't make sense though.

"You certainly do seem to possess the famed Wood Release of the Shodai Hokage." Kimimaro continued, before then shaking his head in disappointment. "It would seem you were one of Orochimaru-sama's failed experiments, however. As you are only able to use the jutsu to create wood clones. From there, you're certainly able to use those wood clones as a catalyst for the rest of your jutsu. In other words, your technique is half-baked." Was the conclusion of his opponent.

"Huh!?" Naruto yelled, taking an aggravated step forward. The ogres twitched in reaction, but when he didn't charge any further, neither did they. "Who's a failed experiment!? I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I ain't no one's toy, ya got it!?"

"That so?" Kimimaro asked, his voice completely lacking emotion. "In that case, I apologize." Even his apology lacked emotion, but so long as he understood, then Naruto would let it go.

"Hey you, you're after Hinata, aren't you?" Naruto asked him instead. "The hell kinda beef you got with her?"

"Hmph," Kimimaro merely grunted and closed his eyes. "It is no concern of yours. The only obligation I have is to allow the Akatsuki to collect you." There it was, so this guy was also after the fox, at least indirectly.

"Well too bad for you, I've decided that the only obligation I have towards you is rubbing your face in the dirt after I whip your ass!" Naruto taunted, pounding a fist into an open palm. Kimimaro had yet to respond to these provocations, but the ogres seemed to take that as a sign that it was okay to fight once again.

They leapt in the air so high that Naruto had to squint against the light of the moon to see them as they descended towards him. Just as he was preparing to dodge, however, their bodies went strangely limp. He didn't even bother moving, the ogres hitting the ground like sacks rather than any kind of living being.

Naruto blinked. Then he turned to look at Kimimaro to see that he looked equally stunned. Adding to that, it was strangely quiet now. Naruto hadn't realized it during the heat of battle, but there had been some kind of music off in the distance. He had assumed it was coming from behind the walls of the city, but it would appear that wasn't the case after all.

"Tayuya…?" Kimimaro turned back towards the forest, but that was enough for Naruto to know what had happened.

"Heh, looks like Shino and Kiba managed to find your partner, huh?" He chuckled to himself, enjoying the confused look on his opponent's face. "You're not the only one with hidden back-up buddy! I may not be much of a tracker, but you better believe I make a helluva distraction! They're gonna take care of your partner… and well, the plan was then for them to come back me up after, but that won't be necessary."

"And why is that?" Kimimaro asked, turning his attention away from the forest and back to Naruto.

"Cause by then I'll have already beat your ass!" Naruto charged, bending down to pick up a hunk of broken wood left over from one of his clones as he did. Like it or not, Kimimaro had been spot on about his jutsu. He couldn't just manipulate any kind of wood. Only that which came from the clones he created. This included the clones that had already been shredded apart, however. "Mokuton: Cutting Sprig Jutsu!" The broken piece of wood transformed into a short spear.

"Your confidence seems misplaced." Kimimaro moved for the first time since the battle had started. When he had first arrived, he pulled something from his shoulder, roughly the same length as Naruto's wooden spear. Now that he was close enough to see it, he could tell it was bone in the shape of a sword.

"We'll see about that!" Naruto swung his spear. Wood met bone, the two weapons making a loud thwack, completely different from the usual clang that usually occurred when two shinobi clashed. Kimimaro pushed back, knocking Naruto away. He stumbled on his feet, nearly tripping over himself.

The temporary loss of balance caused him to look down to find his own footing. That split second distraction nearly cost him. There was a flash of white out of the corner of his eye. On pure instinct alone Naruto raised his wooden spear and managed to block the strike that would have split his head clean open.

This second strike sent Naruto to his knees. He flinched his eyes shut, but no follow up strike came. As he glanced up, he saw Kimimaro had stopped his assault. There didn't seem to be any reason, he was simply waiting for Naruto to get back to his feet. Like this was some kind of academy spar, not a battle to the death against Shinobi.

"You bastard!" Naruto redoubled his efforts, jumping to his feet and swinging his spear up. He knocked Kimimaro's bone sword to the side and then stabbed, only for the sword to be there again, blocking the strike like his last blow hadn't done anything.

Kimimaro said nothing, pushing Naruto back and striking at him again. Naruto was forced on the defensive, blocking and dodging a series of blows, each one falling with the weight of a massive hammer. Naruto's bones shook, his teeth rattled, and it felt like his fingers might snap. It was a miracle he was able to hold onto the spear at all at this point, but by sheer force of will he managed.

Finally, one of Kimimaro's sideways blows struck with enough force to send Naruto flying backwards. He hit the ground on his back and rolled head over feet for several yards. Naruto was sent into a fit of coughs as he struggled back to his feet. In the meantime, Kimimaro had gone back to patiently waiting for him.

"Looking down on me?" Naruto seethed between gasps. "This what you mean by my confidence being misplaced?" He referred to Kimimaro's earlier dig now. Despite his anger, Kimimaro had yet to place the slightest emotional outburst. Instead he tilted his head at him as if confused.

"I'm simply applying the same courtesy to you that you're giving to me." Kimimaro responded as if it was obvious. Naruto didn't respond, but the surprise on his face must have been clear as he followed that statement up with, "Your speciality isn't Kenjutsu. I've seen you create a dozen clones without breaking a sweat. And you also are capable of manipulating those clones to create larger wooden constructs than that stick. Yet from the moment it was only you and me, you've fought me in my area of expertise. That's all."

Naruto was left speechless. He hadn't considered that it was him looking down on his opponent. Why was it that he charged Kimimaro with only a spear? Was he trying to prove something to himself? No, it wasn't that. This was just how he always fought his battles. He tried to match his opponents… but why? Did it make the fight more exciting? Was he seeking the thrill?

It didn't matter. For whatever the reason, Naruto had been subconsciously pulling his punches. That wasn't what this mission needed. That wasn't what Hinata needed. They were in this situation because he had led the enemy here. Now it was up to him to undo the damage he had caused. This wasn't some fight for him to enjoy, it was for him to win.

Even still.

"Yeah, you're right." He smiled at his opponent. Not that cocky grin he had given him at the beginning or that feral smirk to bluff away his fatigue. No, it was one of genuine gratitude. "Thanks." He wouldn't waste further words of gratitude other than that. Even if he respected his opponent, this was still someone he was going to have to kill. What Naruto hadn't been able to do in his fight against Haku, he would do now.

Burying the spear in the ground, he held his arms up in his favorite clone seal. "Moku Bunshin no Jutsu!" And formed no less than several dozen wood clones. "Alright, everyone! Let's go!" He called, earning cheers of agreement. His clones charged in, but in a rare change of pace Naruto hung back. Raising his hands to form the seals necessary, he waited until his clones were in position.

"Interesting, let's see what you have." Kimimaro raised his bone sword, the barest flicker of a smile fluttering across his face for the first time since the battle started. The first clone reached him and he split it in half from the head. As he stepped past the two halves of falling wood, Naruto activated the first part of his plan.

"Mokuton: Wood Binding Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, the two pieces of wood turning into elongated branches that wrapped around Kimimaro's wrists and bound him to the ground. Unable to block, Naruto channeled chakra into the next two clones that were nearly upon him. "Mokuton: Cutting Sprig Jutsu!" The clones broke off their own arms, lobbing them like spears.

"Pointless." Kimimaro sighed. From his ribcage sprouted a barrier of protective bones that caught the spears. Simply by flexing his ribs, he then shattered the spears. Next the wood binding his wrists split apart, revealing even more bones that had broken him free. "I can freely manipulate my bones. No attack of yours will ever hit me if this is the most you can come up with." He pointed his fingers forward and bullets shot out from his fingertips, wiping out the entire frontline of Naruto's charging clones. They all collapsed, causing the clones that had been just behind them to stumble over the broken scraps of their fallen comrades.

Kimimaro charged in while the remaining clones were distracted, his bone sword nothing more than a flash of white as it cut them down mercilessly. It was only all the more apparent now how outclassed and stupid Naruto had been trying to fight him one on one. However, this was no longer that. And when there were only a couple clones left, Naruto prepared his next jutsu.

"Let's see how your bones handle this then!" Naruto clasped his hands together and channeled all the chakra he could. Kimimaro tensed up, seemingly sensing the sudden explosion of power.

The truth was, most of the wood jutsu were just things Naruto had learned by playing around with manipulating his clones. However, he had told Hinata before the exam he had an idea on where he could find some clues for some non-original wood techniques; The same place he had learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu, the forbidden scroll. He had already stolen it once, so swiping it again had been even easier since this time he knew where to look.

Sure enough, he found several great techniques, but this was the strongest one.

"Mokuton: Deep Forest Emergence!" The broken clones around Kimimaro's feet began to sprout twigs and leaves. The more chakra Naruto pumped into the Jutsu the faster they grew. This jutsu was more than just manipulating wood, it was making entirely new trees using his clones as the seeds.

"W-what!?" Kimimaro attempted to jump away, but the roots of the newly sprouting trees had already entangled his ankles. He swung at them with the bones on his arms, but for every branch he cut down, a stronger, thicker one took its place. In moments he was completely overrun, the numerous trees pressing together and crushing him under the pressure. Then he disappeared from sight, the forest swallowing him whole.

Naruto didn't let off the jutsu for several moments longer, waiting until even he was forced to release it. He nearly collapsed to his knees, panting hard as the effects of releasing such a chakra draining jutsu caught up with him. "Let's… see ya… get outta that." He said between gulps for air.

It had cost him nearly all his clones, but he had managed to make it work. The couple clones that hadn't been necessary for the jutsu stood around awkwardly, gawking at the dense cluster of trees the rest of them had been turned into.

"Wha'cha doing you lazy bums!" Naruto hollered over to them, trying to sound authoritative through the exhaustion. "Make sure Kiba and Shino have wrapped things up with their opponent in the forest, would ya?"

No sooner did he say that and there was an explosion of dirt from right next to him. "W-what the hell?" He would have jumped in surprise if he had the energy for it. As the smoke began to clear he saw it hadn't been an explosion, but a person being thrown into the ground at terminal velocity.

"Shino!?" Naruto yelled, dropping down to lift up his teammate. "Oi, Shino! Can you hear me?" He wrapped an arm around the back of Shino's neck and slightly lifted his head to shake him.

"Naru… to." Shino gave a cough of blood, the first indication he was conscious at all. His darkened glasses were intact, if barely, the glass spiderwebbed and on the verge of shattering.

"The hell happened?" Naruto asked, but he didn't know why he bothered. It was a miracle Shino was holding onto any semblance of consciousness at all and he wouldn't be answering any questions in the state he was in.

"Your shithead teammates thought they could take me three on one, that's what happened." A red haired girl answered, approaching him from the hillside. In either hand, dragging behind her by the hood was Kiba. Naruto knew one of them had to be Akamaru, but they both appeared to be unconscious so he had no way of knowing which one. "Here, you can have them!" The girl threw their bodies with unusual strength and they flew through the air before landing on either side of Naruto.

"You'll regret that…" Naruto growled, slowly lowering Shino back down. He then rose to his feet, careful to never take his eyes off the red head. Kimimaro had called out to someone named Tayuya, and it stood to reason this was her. Physically speaking, she didn't look all that impressive, but the way she had thrown Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru belied some impressive power.

"Huh, I ain't gonna regret shit. It's you that doesn't seem to realize how fucked you are." Tayuya hadn't even bothered resuming a combat stance. It was like she didn't even intend to fight him. It was only when the sound of creaking trees reached his ears several seconds later did Naruto realize why.

"No way…" He slowly turned to the densely packed together forest he had created. What emerged from it… both was and wasn't Kimimaro. His skin was now a reddish brown and large bones had sprouted from his back. As he ripped his way free, Naruto also noticed a giant tail, giving him the appearance of some ancient predator.

"Tayuya… so you're done over there." Kimimaro acknowledged the appearance of his partner for that brief moment before once again turning to Naruto. "I will give you credit. Not many can force me to take this form. However, our fight must end here."

"Oh yeah!?" Naruto raised his hands back up, forming his favorite seal. This time he never got it off. Crossing the distance between them almost too fast to see, Kimimaro was on Naruto like a wild boar. His right arm had formed a powerful spear… that aimed to cut off Naruto's jutsu.

There was a splash of blood against his cheek as Kimimaro passed by him. Naruto put his chakra into the jutsu, yet it didn't activate. The sound of something wet hitting the ground a moment later told him why. He glanced down, fighting every instinct that told him not to look. As if looking would make it real. Yet even when he saw it, his brain refused to accept this as reality.

The reality of his severed right arm lying at his feet.

Chapter End

AN: This is another chapter that was going to be two, so I added another chapter title break.

Talking briefly about the shrines that were introduced this time, using the number eighty-eight was inspired by the Shikoku Pilgrimage and the journey the Buddhist monks take through Shikoku island to visit those eighty-eight shrines. This is in keeping with the Buddhist inspirations for the Nichiren Byakugan and Hinata's duties. More on those will be explored later in the story.

The small idol in the shrine was based on the second form of the Ten-Tails. I had Kali refer to it as the Ame no Hitotsu no Kami, but this is just one of the names that Kurama had referred to it in Canon. I always thought it was an interesting detail that the Ten-Tails had many names, but we never really got any details on which groups of people may have referred to it by all these different names for it to have so many. So that was just me trying to add some lore to a Canon detail that never got fleshed out.