CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Our benefactors part-4
The next day was the day of the long awaited Rinne festival. The festive mood could be seen and felt all over Konoha, as the streets were filled with shops and kiosks which themselves were crammed with customers and onlookers. A few theatres and rides also opening the center of the city, and the great stone faces were adorned with decorative lights.
In a games kiosk, Naruto was engaged in a game of darts with Sasuke. Try as he may, he was simply no match for the Uchiha and had lost every single round thus far.
"Ahhh, come on!" Naruto watched as the shopkeeper handed yet another stuffed animal to his rival who in turn handed it to his girlfriend standing behind him. Sakura, who was struggling to hold all the stuffed animals Sasuke had won her that night, accepted the toy and started scanning the area to find a shop selling bags.
"One more time" Naruto passed the shopkeeper a coin and took three darts and a blindfold. He covered his eyes and aimed at the targets, scoring two average hits and a bullseye.
"Way to go!" Hinata cheered from behind the blonde.
Naruto took off his blindfold and pumped his fist in joy. "Lets see you top that Sasuke"
The Uchiha slid the shopkeeper a coin and coolly threw three darts at the targets, scoring three bullseyes. Naruto watched with his mouth open as the shopkeeper handed Sasuke a green kitten, which was unceremoniously passed down to Sakura. The medic let the toy land in the large pile she was barely carrying in both hands and turned with a plea to Temari behind her who was grinning ear to ear.
"If I'd known it was Naruto who was his opponent I'd have brought my own bag" she laughed, turning to Shikamaru at her side. "Shikamaru! I want a stuffed animal."
Shikamaru sighed and mumbled to himself. "Festivals are always such a drag…"
"What?" Temari shot him a glare.
"I'll check the next stand princess!" he quickly replied before Temari lost her cool. Meanwhile Naruto had lost yet another round to Sasuke.
"How do you plan to secure the village when you can't even secure a prize for your beloved, Naruto?" Sasuke had a smirk on his face.
"Sasuke…." Naruto growled through clenched teeth. Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him but found her hand brushed off.
"Not now Hinata, I'm trying to win a gift for Hinata!" Naruto slammed a coin on the counter and let three darts fly.
Two misses and one hit.
"Damn it" he cursed under his breath.
Sasuke stepped up and looked at the back of the store. There was only one toy left, a red panda. With a tired sigh, he let fly and missed all three targets.
"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto practically snatched the panda and shoved it into Hinata's hands.
"For you my love" he proudly declared, flashing her a wide grin as she hesitantly accepted the panda he won her.
"Now can we finally head to the theatre?" Sakura asked, dumping the pile of stuffed animals into a bag Temari had produced.
The group walked down to the movie theatre, chatting away. It was decided on a 4-2 vote that they were going to see an action movie….. Sakura being the tie breaker. As they walked past a nearby fountain, a teenage boy could be seen nervously looking around as if he was searching for someone.
"Where is she?" Konohamaru checked his watch for the eight time that night. His prayers were eventually answered, as Hanabi waved at him from the crowd a few metres to his east. Soon, she was standing next to him.
"Happy rebirth!" Hanabi handed Konohamaru a small wrapped gift and was surprised when he placed a bouquet of flowers in her hands.
"Thanks…a lot Sarutobi"
"The pleasure is mine, beaut-I mean Hanabi!" Konohamaru quickly caught himself before he called the girl he was technically not even on a date with beautiful.
In the book the protagonist makes his crush swoon when he calls her beautiful…. Konohamaru thought to himself. He stole a quick glance at Hanabi who was figuring out what to do with her bouquet. At least she didn't seem to hate the flowers….
I don't think I can bring myself to do that just yet, gotta try something else
"Where are the others?" Hanabi's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Umm, I don't know, should we wait for them?"
"Five more minutes"
"Alright". Konohamaru and Hanabi stood side by side, silent. He snuck a look at her and noticed her rubbing her wrists for warmth.
She's cold! Guess there's no better time for this then…
Hanabi froze as a hoodie suddenly found it's way over her shoulders.
"What are you doing?" she asked her teammate who was already starting to shiver with the cold.
"J-just being a g-gentleman, no w-worries!" Konohamaru managed to force a smile to his face. Hanabi sighed and handed him back the sweater.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm fine"
She appreciated it….that's good, that's good, all's well….now for a more risky move
Konohamaru inhaled and turned to face Hanabi.
"Hanabi, you look-"
His words screeched to a stop in his throat as she turned to face him, and he could feel his confidence practically evaporate the second his gaze met hers. Hanabi had clearly spent extra time getting ready that night, and her light makeup and hairdo reflected it. The Hyuuga patiently waited for him to speak and from her expression it looked like she was expecting to hear something in particular from him.
I have to tell her
Konohamaru steeled himself and stood upright. Now or never.
"You look really beautiful Hanabi"
His teammate's eyes widened with his compliment and he noticed a small blush appear on her cheeks. Shyly, she turned away and looked at the snowy ground. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Konohamaru struggled to form an apology in his mind.
"Thanks"
Hanabi's reply left him lost for words, and he could only manage a nervous grin.
Whew! I'm on a roll! Now for the finishing touch….
As he slowly reached to take her hand in his, he was stopped by Hanabi , who quickly moved her hand out of reach and asked him a tricky question.
"What are you doing Sarutobi?"
Damn it
"Umm….I was just…." Konohamaru scrambled for a reply. He was even more puzzled when Hanabi suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Oh, I see what this is" she said in-between laughs
"What are you talking about?" Konohamaru genuinely wanted to know.
Hanabi finally contained her laughter and replied, "The flowers, the hoodie…. Konohamaru, if Naruto is as bad at flirting as Hinata is then there's a good chance he gave you a book to learn how to be romantic from"
His eyes shot open along with his mouth in shock "No way, you too?!"
Hanabi raised her hand in admission. "Guilty"
Konohamaru got an idea. "Okay on the count of three, we both say the names of the books our people gave us. 1, 2, 3…"
"Make out tactics!"
"Heart of a shinobi!"
They announced in unison, then paused in surprise at the other's words.
"Make out tactics?!"
"Heart of a shinobi?!"
This time, both of them broke into laughter.
"Didn't that get a movie adaptation recently?" Konohamaru asked, wiping tears from his eye.
"Yup! That's the one!" Hanabi replied
"Oh man, I feel so relieved! To think I was so nervous about telling you I like you that I-" realizing what he just said, Konohamaru worked his brain overtime to come up with a decent excuse or lie.
"That I-I-I-"
Much to his surprise, Hanabi simply took his hand in hers, and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.
"Me too" She said, flashing him a bright smile and leaning into him.
"Oh….that's cool" Konohamaru fought the urge to do a backflip in glee.
Hanabi looked around and shrugged. "It's not like the festival's gonna last forever, let's go do something"
Konohamaru felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. "Just the two of us?"
"Yeah, stupid. I want to check out the yogurt stand!" Hanabi declared, pulling Konohamaru behind her as they made their way through the crowds. The pair however, were stopped by a large noise and the sound of people screaming.
"What is that?" Konohamaru spun around looking for the source of the commotion. Activating her dojutsu, his teammate scanned the festival grounds and finally settled her eyes on something….or rather, someone.
"Who is that?" she asked, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand.
A few minutes earlier
"Sakura you are such a backstabbing traitor" Temari frowned at her friend as they approached the movie theatre. "We already agreed on what wee were going to see last night"
"Sorry but I might have made another deal behind your backs ladies" Sakura sneered at Temari and clung onto Sasuke's arm tighter.
Shikamaru produced a cigarette and lit it. "Lets just get this over with"
Naruto was busy going through his wallet when a voice from inside him startled him
Naruto! Something's coming
"Geez Kurama, can't you go back to sleep? I'm kinda busy now" Naruto whispered through clenched teeth.
No, you need to leave NOW! I can't explain it but you're not safe here
As the group was about to reach the ticket booth, they were interrupted by a large crash behind them.
They turned around and immediately knew that they were in mortal danger.
Standing before them was a round, muscular man and on his shoulder was seated a much smaller man with long, flowing hair. The pair were both pale skinned and their pale eyes contained the Byakugan. The larger man formed an axe from a red seal on his back as he gently placed the smaller man on the ground.
"There you are nine tails" the smaller man took a step closer to Naruto but he was held in place by a shadow stretching from Shikamaru.
"I'll hold him down!" Shikamaru shouted, signaling his friends to attack. But he could only watch as his shadow possession was harmlessly sucked into the open palm of the shorter man.
"No way…" Shikamaru stood up and leaped for cover as the larger man came bearing down on him, axe in hand.
Sasuke produced a scroll and grabbed his sword as it appeared in a puff of smoke. "Naruto, these guys don't look very friendly"
Hinata cursed herself for not bringing her radio with her to warn the homeland defense corps and decided to step into action regardless. A strong hand on her shoulder however held her back from taking on the two strange beings.
"Hinata, civilians are in danger. Go, they're here for me" Naruto said to her, maintaining visual contact with the two intruders.
"Naruto-"
"Don't worry, me and Sasuke will hold them off. Trust me" Naruto interrupted her.
Hinata gave him a knowing nod and ran off to evacuate as many civilians as she could, signaling Shikamaru and Sakura to assist her.
Naruto faced the two men with a frown. "How many times will I tell you people this, I'm not hearing offers for Kurama right now, so come back later okay?"
Sasuke pointed his sword at the strangers. "Identify yourselves"
The larger man walked in front of his partner and spoke on his behalf. "This is Otsusuki Momoshiki, and I am Otsusuki Kinshiki. You have what belongs to us, jinchuriki."
Naruto's lips curled in a one-sided smile. "No can do, I've never seen you in all my life"
Naruto, this is the danger I warned you about. Do not underestimate them, I sense tremendous power in them
"Noted, Kurama" Naruto replied and slammed his fist into his open palm, transforming into his bijuu mode. "But you two look like trouble, so Sasuke and I will have to politely ask you to leave"
Temari summoned her fan from a scroll and opened it in front of her. "Don't forget me too, Naruto"
Momoshiki gave a bored sigh and removed his shawl. "I really don't have the time to entertain you insects" He signaled Kinshiki and carefully walked towards Naruto.
"But so be it"
Sasuke blocked a slash from Kinshiki's axe and rolled to the side. Infusing his sword with lightning, he slashed at the Otsusuki but his blow was parried by another axe Kinshiki had produced and wielded in his other hand. He dodged a series of hacks and slashes from Kinshiki leapt up in the air
[Inferno style: Fire ball jutsu]
A massive fireball made it's way towards Kinshiki, who dispelled it by converting one of his axes into a shield. As soon as the fireball was blocked, Kinshiki found himself lifted high in the air by a Tornado.
[Tornado drop]
Temari slammed Kinshiki into the ground with significant force, causing cracks to spread out from the point of impact.
While his friends faced Kinshiki, Naruto found himself in a bit of a bind. Momoshiki had simply absorbed every jutsu Naruto threw at him and he was beginning to run out of ideas.
"Taijutsu it is then". In a flash of orange Naruto rushed towards Momoshiki, only to be sent flying back by a massive Rasengan.
"What, he can fire them back too?" Naruto said in surprise, picking himself up from the rubble.
"That's not all" Momoshiki smiled and levitated high up, raising his hand. Meanwhile, Kinshiki had emerged from the crater he was in and floated up to his master's side.
"I said I don't have time to entertain you insects" Momoshiki announced, producing a massive ball of chakra containing every single jutsu he had absorbed in their battle and holding it above his head. "Maybe this will calm you down nine tails, but you must not die"
"No way…." Temari looked up in disbelief at the size of Momoshiki's jutsu hovering menacingly above them.
"Naruto-kun!"
Naruto looked behind him to see Hinata running to the battle ground and to his side. He found Sasuke and called out to him.
"Sasuke, I want you to get everyone out of here safely with your teleportation jutsu"
Sasuke turned to his friend. "And you?"
Naruto smiled and gave his answer. "Don't worry about me, I have a plan" Sasuke gave an understanding nod and called out to the rest of the group.
Noticing the arrival of Hinata, Momoshiki called out to her from above.
"Wait" he focused on her with his Byakugan. "You….why do you
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Hinata asked him, her question laced with fear. Naruto planted a kiss on her forehead and whispered to her, "I'll be fine Hina, don't worry about me"
"No, come with us, everyone else has been evacuated" Hinata held on to him with both hands.
"I have to protect the rest of the village Hinata, go with Sasuke to safety"
Hinata let go of him and frowned. "In that case….I'll fight with you, by your side" she activated her Byakugan and tried to think of something to do about the massive ball of chakra Momoshiki held above them. Naruto smiled at her and turned to Sasuke who was watching their conversation from behind all along.
[Universal pull]
Hinata felt herself lift off the ground and float towards Sasuke who had opened a portal behind him. As she hopelessly struggled against Sasuke's pull, she watched as the form of Kurama engulfed Naruto and reached up to grab the massive ball of chakra, stretching it's tails from beneath the surface to form a protective sphere around it. As she found herself being sucked into the portal, the last thing she saw was Naruto looking over his shoulder to smile at her, before being engulfed in a massive explosion.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was already too late.