A/N: So here we are with a new chapter on NaruHina day. And with this chapter we begin the Tsunade retrieval arc. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude for the continued love and support from all of you. From this chapter onwards, we will be having some action frequently in one way or another, for at least the next 10 chapters or so. I wish you all happy reading. And special thanks to GBAboy313, bro your editing skills are just awesome!
CHAPTER 19: THE MEN COLLECTING THE BIJU AND UNBLINDED EYES…
*A week after the invasion*
Konoha Training Grounds
Hinata breathed deeply as she got to work. She had decided to begin practicing Lightning Release following the invasion, her mind seeing so many times where it would have eliminated so much of the adversity involved and ended things quickly.
She had tested for her affinity before but thought little of actually working to try and utilize it in her style, maybe a bit of cynicism over what good it could do for a failure like herself.
She only had learned one jutsu so far, a low rank melee-jutsu called Shock Touch, but her current work involved re-designing it to be a Jutsu that could be used to augment her Gentle Fist with an Element.
The base Jutsu revolved around gathering static charges for a single blow but Hinata wanted to try and make it last for a duration. Probably impossible due to the nature of static electricity, but every bit of practice and improvement towards this seeming impossible goal would improve her development in Lightning Release overall.
Every bit of frustration came with the desire to give up and move on, but Hinata grit her teeth and got up and kept trying.
She refused to back down ever again. She refused to fail to live up to her (No! Their!) personal nindo.
She would persevere, she would endure till she succeeded.
100 tries and little success would have discouraged her into giving up entirely two weeks ago, now it just convinced her to take a break.
Hinata went to her bag and attempted to grip a water bottle, "Ow." Only to hiss in pain the moment she tried to apply a grip.
Hinata pulled her hand back and appraised the damage.
Minor burns had formed on her hands from the constant discharging and usage of chakra from those Tenketsu.
'This might be a bit of a problem.' Hinata thought with a shake of her head: 'I overdid it again. This will make it harder to train. Better just put some ointment on it and bind it before giving it one last try and just call it a day.'
The Hyuga pulled her ointment out of her pack and applied it to her burns with a wince as she felt irritation from the blisters as if salt had been rubbed into an open wound and made to wrap it up in bandages but before she could even reach for it, she noticed the blisters begin to slowly but visibly heal without even a mark to prove they were even there to begin with.
Hinata was shocked, but it was just another in a list that had been building ever since the day of the invasion, ever since Naruto had used both his and Kurama's chakra to heal her. 'First my stamina on the day of invasion increased suddenly and recovered faster than ever in a situation like that, then I my reserves started growing inexplicably and my recovery rate on my chakra started increasing as well, and now this. What is this even? What's going on with me?'
Hinata put her medical supplies away but continued to rest before she got up and stretched out before making one last attempt.
However, the Hyuga Princess found her mind wandering to the Lightning Jutsu Sasuke had used during the exams a week ago. The blade of lightning containing so much energy that the crackling of the sparks sounded like the chirping of a flock of birds.
Hinata felt an idea form a round this random thought, running through the signs for Shock Touch and began pouring as much chakra into the jutsu to pull as many static charges as she could.
Soon a blade of lightning formed in the open palm of her hand, nothing like the one Sasuke had used but still impressive in its own right.
Hinata decided to test around and looked around. She found a tree that was the perfect size and distance and began charging it.
She had never felt so fast, like she was lightning itself in this moment, only what was literally in front of her was what she could focus on.
Her momentum shook a tree she just narrowly avoided running into headfirst but a branch swung and swept her feet.
"OW!" the girl cried as the branch tripped her and then sent her to the ground.
Hinata had to rest for a moment and then got up. She felt like she was about to discover something.
It was supposed to be one more then go home and rest but she was so close!
Hinata thought back to Sasuke's actions, he had been moving about as fast as she had just been and yet he was able to see and evade obstacles even if they weren't in direct line of sight.
The red glow of his eyes came to light in her mind and the knowledge of the ability of the Uchiha Dojutsu almost left her slightly discouraged but the young ninja refused to be dissuaded.
'Maybe…maybe the Byakugan can help…' Hinata thought.
Carefully, Hinata began focusing her chakra to her the coils feeding into her eyes, specifically the ones responsible for activating Dojutsu
Hinata had been practicing how to turn on her Byakugan without the use of seals ever since she had managed it while watching Naruto fight Neji and realized what she had accomplished. And all of her practice had paid off, Hinata had learned to turn it on without needing seals.
Hinata closed her eyes and then a moment later opened them as the activation signs of the Byakugan formed and the veins feeding into her eyes tensed and bulged.
The Byakugan granted something along the lines of a 355-degree cone of vision, probably more accurate to say that it took the cone of vision and inverted it to make a small cone shaped blind spot at the back of the head.
The Sharingan locked onto anything occurring within the field of vision and read and predicted and processed everything in an instant.
The Byakugan did provide something similar to the seeming time slow for information processing but nothing that could truly compare to the Uchiha's Copy Eye.
But Hinata was willing to bet it might just cover the weakness of any lightning jutsu that ran lightning through the body and caused ungodly amounts of acceleration, and so she ran through the seals once more and formed her knock off of the chirping lightning blade.
Hinata identified a target and mapped a path that would serve as an obstacle course.
Hinata took off running and felt her vision 'cone' begin to shrink, her mind feared that her experiment would yield only disappointment and failure but the girl's determined will of iron refused to bend to the doubts and anxieties that once ruled her. The ones that had been de-throned by Naruto affirming his love to her.
And then the field of vision she possessed stayed stable at just above 180 degrees. Hinata was able duck, dodge and weave through the obstacle course she had mapped out to her target before slamming her blade into the target with a feeling of absolute triumph. And just barely keep her bearings as she maneuvered through it all.
Hinata was riding cloud nine (what's its name? Kurama-nimbus? I apologize for nothing) until reality kicked in with her right hand burning.
Moderate burns and blisters had formed in her palm, most likely created by such a strong sudden discharge of static, though Hinata basked in her victory for a moment more before getting her supplies out and placing ointment on the injury before wrapping it tightly despite being down to her non-dominant hand.
Examination with her Byakugan had shown that the injury had begun healing already but Hinata felt that it would be best to just take it easy until the injury had healed.
A cinnamon bun would definitely help to celebrate this victory, it would be even better if Naruto could join her for it, but if he couldn't she could celebrate on her own. Not that Naruto-kun would ever really deny her unless it was important, so that wasn't a problem anyways.
And so, the young girl left, with the intention to find a certain foxy Blonde and she was certain she knew where he would be.
*Hokage Office*
At the Hokage tower, a certain self-proclaimed super pervert was experiencing firsthand just what exactly the Kage's bane was. After his single day of freedom to do research, Hiruzen had virtually handed over all the paperwork to his student and limited himself to the role of an advisor. The toad sage was now Hokage in everything but name, his inauguration ceremony was now nothing but a formality.
"Here sensei, I am done with all the documents regarding the repairs and restoration." Jiraiya said with a sigh, having thoroughly gone through a huge pile of paperwork. His sensei nodded and only pointed him to the next pile, considering assignment of missions and the files of the genin teams.
Jiraiya curiously read through the team assignments, seeing as he hadn't actually been informed of what the most recently formed teams were, though understandable seeing as he was only just now taking over the role of Hokage.
He went over the assignments and afterwards thought it over and began realizing both the strangeness of certain assignments and the eerie nostalgia of a certain one, and suddenly his eyes widened.
"Sensei! What were you thinking assigning teams like you did here?" He asked in irritation. Hiruzen raised his eyebrows.
"What do you mean Jiraiya? The genin teams are well thought out. Team-7 is reminiscent of your old team. Team-8 specializes in tracking. Team-10 is the just the continuation of the highly successful Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Gai's team-5 is Konoha's first taijutsu specialist team. Are you insinuating that I didn't assign the teams correctly?"
"I am not insinuating sensei. I am directly stating this as a fact. These teams, except for Team-10 and 5, are just failures waiting to happen." Jiraiya stated with a serious expression. Hiruzen felt insulted.
"Care to explain your reasoning Jiraiya, since as I said Team-7 is the reminiscent of your old team, which let me remind you is one of, if not the most successful trio of shinobi till date. And Team-8 is quite competent as a tracking team, so what's the problem?"
"The problem, sensei, is Kurenai's credentials to lead a tracker team. What does she bring to the table as a tracker? Yes, she does have some decent sensory abilities, chakra control, some basic medical ninjutsu training, decent taijutsu and excellent genjutsu but what are her credentials as a tracker? She doesn't have the sensory capabilities of a tracker, nor does she have any dojutsu capable of doing that, nor any summons so what makes her eligible of all people to lead a tracker team and why not make a genjutsu specialist team under her guidance. What's the problem with that? Since you have already created a taijutsu specialist team under Gai." Jiraiya retorted with a flat, almost clinical tone if not for the undercurrent of annoyed hostility in it. (Editor's note: this is not a bashing of Kurenai, this is both RaNK's thoughts and my own on why Kurenai is unfit to lead a tracker team. She's a good person and a good ninja but demonstrates no qualities suitable to leading a tracker team)
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. He didn't have a single point to argue against Jiraiya's points. Then Jiraiya put a file on the table, the file of a certain Sakura Haruno, opened the first mission report enclosed in it.
"See, here is Kakashi's comments on her. He has highlighted that Sakura has a very good potential in genjutsu, due to her excellent chakra control. Now let's focus on Kurenai's students, who among them has a good potential for genjutsu? None. So why is a potentially good genjutsu user not under the supervision of a genjutsu specialist? Yes, Kakashi is well trained in all major Shinobi Arts and is classified as an expert in them all, including Genjutsu, but a dedicated specialist knows tricks even he doesn't and his specialties lie with combat and tracking. So?" Jiraiya asked further.
"Kurenai specifically requested Hinata." Hiruzen replied with a sigh.
"So, we are taking personal interests into consideration instead of the capabilities of the genin? Is that how team selections are done nowadays?"
Hiruzen didn't have a reply to that.
"Now coming to the team that resembles the Sannin. Before we get to that, let me state this. A team like that should never be created again, not with people with similar personalities as us of those days." Jiraiya stated with absolute seriousness and certainty.
"Why is that Jiraiya?"
"You want to know why sensei? Fine, we became highly successful shinobi but what about our personal lives? How did that end up? Every single one of us has a more than messed up personal life. Orochi-teme became an S-class criminal and forgot everything about morality. Tsunade is a drunken mess and a Missing Nin in everything but name only. Finally, you have me. Yeah, I am still loyal to the village, but my personal life. It's a mess I won't even wish upon my worst enemy. I never could have a family and a home to come back to. Looking at Team-7, Naruto is playing my part there. Do you want him to end up as me? Some drunkard and wandering loner? Are you insane Old Man?!" Jiraiya almost shouted in anger. He will be damned to allow such a thing to happen to his godson.
"Jiraiya. I certainly don't wish such a life upon him and you are forgetting that he is now in a romantic relationship with young Hinata, so he is definitely not going to end up alone." Hiruzen retorted.
"Yes sensei, he has Hinata now, no thanks to you. If you knew that she had some strong feelings for him, so why didn't you allow her into Team-7? The gaki could have certainly used some mental support and encouragement and in return would have given her all the mental support she needed. Oh…I understand now. You wanted to exploit his crush on Haruno, just like mine upon Tsunade didn't you?" Jiraiya stated with a low growl. "Look, I understand that with the gaki's crush on Haruno and her crush upon the Uchiha, this could have fostered the already existing rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke and would have pushed them further but what about the psychological aspects of it? What if Sasuke had chosen to become something like Orochimaru? He has the Sharingan, he can become a bigger nightmare for Konoha than Orochimaru ever could be, should he want that, and considering his present psychological state, something like that happening is not beyond the realm of possibility."
Hiruzen's eyes widened. Jiraiya was right and considering that Sasuke had received a curse mark, the probability of Sasuke completely losing his mind and going rogue only went up. Then he remembered that he had also forgotten to inform Jiraiya about Sasuke's curse mark. But before he could come to that point, Jiraiya began speaking again.
"I am doing a reassignment. I am assigning Sakura Haruno to Kurenai. Her team will no longer be a tracking team. Considering Hinata Hyuuga's affinity to the lightning element, it makes sense to assign her to Kakashi. Although Naruto is now a chunin, he will still be acting as the third member of team-7 whenever a third member is required, same goes for Shikamaru and team-10. Until the next Chunin exams and we have to scrounge up fill ins." Jiraiya stated as he filled in the necessary paperwork and signed.
"Umm… Jiraiya, regarding Sasuke, there is something you need to know." Hiruzen said like that kid who is about to get shouted at for doing something irresponsible.
A minute later, a shout of "WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THAT?!" was heard around Konoha.
"Old man, now I understand why you wanted to leave the seat so desperately, you indeed need some rest. The hat is taking too big a toll on you. Fine, so as long as I don't observe Sasuke's curse mark and judge him safe to operate as a shinobi, he is to be suspended. Also, I am assigning Inoichi to do a mind walk on him and give a detailed report on his current psychological state. If he refuses, then will just have to knock his ass out and do it anyways, that psychological analysis needs to have happened years ago and should have happened the moment he got marked." Jiraiya stated, signing the necessary document to have the order carried out.
"I will also be having a chat with Kurenai regarding her dealing with a certain Yakumo Kurama, though me and you are going to have a talk about why you thought it was good idea to have her molding sealed off if she couldn't get control over her Genjutsu. She could have just been shifted into a civilian role and just get taught enough to ensure she didn't use her Genjutsu by accident. However, our first priority is to look for Tsunade and bring her back considering the crumbling medical infrastructure of the village as you rightly highlighted two days ago. I thought that I would be going for this one but it doesn't seem possible any longer." Jiraiya stated as he went through hand signs of the summoning jutsu. The toad he summoned just happened to be Gamakichi.
"Gamakichi, can you call Naruto and Kakashi here, tell them that I have a mission for them."
The small orange toad shrugged: "Sure, you got it, Jiraiya."
As this discussion was happening in the Hokage tower, the last loyal Uchiha was taking a walk to clear his mind off the endless frustrations he was having, most of them due to the boisterous blonde he had as a teammate.
'Why, why does he have to be so strong? He was another orphan like me, he was the lowest in the class and the worst of us when we started as Team-7, but now? He not only defeated Neji but also Gaara, the same Gaara I couldn't beat, he defeated that redhead not just once but twice in the same day. Just how did he do that? And if I can't surpass him, how can I kill Itachi? This village…. They are holding me back…. They are not letting me reach where I want to. Sure, Kakashi trained me but only so that Gaara didn't kill me, his Chidori was useless against Gaara…and even the Dobe has something comparable to that, just how did he manage to learn that…NO! I have to surpass him, I can't let him get ahead of me…If I can't surpass Naruto, there is no way I can surpass Itachi!"
Just as Sasuke walked around sulking, two figures, dressed in black robes with red clouds appeared on the village walls, the shorter of the two glanced around. The damage due to the recent invasion was still there, repairs were going on. The man let out a sigh.
"What's up, Itachi? Are you feeling sympathy for your former village, due to this destruction?" the taller of the two, with a huge sword tied on his back asked his companion.
"No, not at all." Came the monotone reply. However, the man continued eyeing around, his gaze went in the direction where the Uchiha district used to be, the heartache that accompanied was very hard to control and hide. He had to cover it with a few coughs.
'How are you doing Sasuke? Have you become stronger, strong enough to take me on a battle? I sincerely hope you have, for you are my atonement for the sins I have committed.' The man thought and then his gaze fell on the Hokage tower and he remembered another important figure in his life, the heartache was getting more and more difficult to handle and it was getting even harder to keep the tears from flowing down.
'I know it is hopeless but can I see the same smile on your face that you gave me every time we met, can I see it at least once more before I die?'
Then the man had to come back from his musings to the mission at hand. They had a certain blonde to locate and capture (pretend to try to capture for the shorter man, so that he could pass on information to the Konoha higher ups about the motives of the organization he had infiltrated into, unfortunately he would have to attract the attention of some of his former comrades for that and even injure them.)
"Kisame let's go."
"You got it Itachi. Let the fun begin!"
And the two vanished using the shunshin.
A short time later, the two appeared just outside the residential area of Konoha, in a park near a training ground. As a matter of coincidence (or maybe not), two Jonin just happened to be strolling (on a date) near the place where these two cloaked individuals appeared. The Jonin immediately got on guard, they could sense that the individuals before them were no ordinary people.
"Halt! Show your faces and state your purpose of entering the village!" the red eyed jonin ordered. The cloaked individuals didn't even give a visual reaction to her order. The bearded jonin to her right, immediately got his trench knives out and took a fighting stance.
This time, the shorter of the tow cloaked men took off his hat, which he had worn in such a way that his eyes weren't visible to onlookers. As soon as he took off his hat, a scratched Konoha headband and two glowing Sharingan eyes came to view. His companion also followed suit, revealing his shark like blue face and a scratched Kiri forehead protector. Asuma and Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise. They didn't except to see these two in Konoha, not in the least.
"Itachi Uchiha. It's either brave or really stupid of you to pay a visit to your former home after all that you've done." Asuma stated in a serious tone as his girlfriend also got into a fighting stance.
"Asuma, Kurenai. It's been some time." The former ANBU captain and prodigy of the Uchiha clan stated in a monotone blank voice.
"Surrender now." Kurenai warned. This time the man with a shark-like face chuckled.
"My, My. Some welcome we are receiving here aren't we Itachi?" He said in between laughs. "I guess, I really have to introduce myself. Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the former Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. I am sure you have heard about me."
"Who hasn't, you are an S-rank criminal after all." Asuma spat. "The order to surrender stands for you as well."
"Asuma, Kurenai. I have no need to harm you, so it's better if you just step aside." Itachi stated stoically as he glared at the two jonin with his Sharingan.
This time, Kurenai decided to act.
In seconds, Itachi felt like he was being bound by the branches of a tree, he tried to move, but couldn't, then he saw the genjutsu mistress's body emerge from the trunk, as she pressed a kunai on his throat.
"It's over Itachi."
However, the Uchiha prodigy's expression still remained the same as it had been when he had removed his straw hat.
Suddenly the tree vanished and Itachi was free from the illusory restrains.
"Genjutsu of that level doesn't work on me." He stated stoically as Kurenai got to her knees, panting.
"Are you okay?" Asuma asked in concern but before he could get a reply, he had to dodge a diagonal slash from the huge sword that Kasame carried.
"You should pay some more attention to your surroundings." The Shark-man taunted as he forced Asuma to dodge another slash. Kurenai got up and tried to engage Itachi in a fight with kunai, only to end up on the ground again, writhing in agony.
"It seems that the quality of shinobi of this village have gone down, considerably." The Uchiha commented.
"Yeah, they don't even provide minimal amusement, what a shame." Kisame said with a grin.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!" Asuma released a series of wind waves from his mouth towards the two shinobi in front of him only for Kisame to do a diagonal slash, just as the waves were about to hit him. They vanished, without making a single scratch on his body.
"Shit!" Asuma cursed, recognizing that Kisame's sword could absorb chakra. Then he had to backflip again to avoid getting cut in half.
"Dynamic Entry!" A voice yelled as Kisame received a vicious kick on his gut, getting pushed back by a few feet.
Gai eyed his opponents carefully, as he took a battle stance, in front of his winded and injured comrades.
"Gai, be careful of Itachi, his ability with genjutsu is beyond anything I've ever seen." Kurenai warned.
"Don't worry my youthful comrades, there is a way of countering the Sharingan. Don't look into his eyes when you fight him, focus on the movement of his legs and act accordingly." Gai advised as he effortlessly dodged a sword strike from Kisame.
"You look like an interesting opponent." Kisame commented as he kept swinging his sword violently, but the Taijutsu expert kept dodging his attacks effortlessly.
Asuma and Kurenai meanwhile got themselves ready to face the Uchiha.
"Even if you know how to deal with my Sharingan, you two are simply not strong enough to defeat me." Itachi commented as he began dodging Asuma's wind chakra enhanced trench knives. Itachi dodged the blades of wind almost effortlessly and Itachi even landed a hit on Asuma.
"You are not Maito Gai, not Kakashi Hatake, nor any of the Sannin who would actually pose a threat, I have already proven that Orochimaru cannot hold his own against me should he choose to stand in opposition to me. Stand down and get out of my way." The Uchiha commented, making Asuma and Kurenai curse inwardly.
At the same time, Gai and Kisame continued their brawl. Understanding that this was not a simple opponent, Kisame put his palm on the ground.
"Water Style: Five Feeding Sharks." Streams of water along with five huge sharks emerged from the water around Kisame's fingers and began attacking Gai with significant speed and vicious ferocity.
However, by that time, Gai had already opened six of the inner gates.
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!" Gai performed a high-speed spinning backwards kick, with a strong enough whirlwind to dispel the sharks. Kisame raised an eyebrow, nobody had deflected his attack so easily till date.
At the same time, suddenly Itachi's attention was drawn from Asuma and Kurenai to the newcomer, who happened to be passing through that part of Konoha.
"Hello Sasuke." Itachi stated in his monotone voice.
Sasuke for his part, shook in incontrollable anger, enough for the restraining seal placed upon his curse mark to begin eroding.
"Itachi…. Uchiha Itachi." Sasuke spat in anger. "I'll kill you." He said going through a quick series of hand-signs, leading to hand getting engulfed in lightning. Itachi raised an eyebrow.
With his lightning engulfed arm, Sasuke rushed towards his estranged elder brother as fast as he could, his target, Itachi's heart, something he would never miss.
'You are still not strong enough little brother.'
"DIE ITACHI! CHIDORI!" Sasuke screamed as he thrusted his hand forward, only for Itachi to literally grab that hand, then deliver a vicious punch on his gut with his other hand, knocking the air out of his lungs and then slam on the trunk of a nearby tree, chocking his neck.
"Foolish little brother, you lack the hatred to defeat me, what a disappointment." Itachi stated as the tomoes in his Sharingan expanded and his pupils took the form of a three-pronged shuriken.
"Tsukuyomi"
And Sasuke was forced into the world of the genjutsu. He was forced to watch the massacre of his clan, the murder of his parents, again and again and again and again and again…
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH STOP THIS!" Sasuke screamed back in the real world. Then he was unceremoniously dropped on the ground by Itachi.
"Come after me when you have enough hatred, stupid little brother." Itachi stated in his monotone voice.
"What did you do to him?" Kurenai demanded as she tried to stab Itachi.
"Nothing of your concern, just reminded him of his place." The Uchiha prodigy replied as he blocked the kunai strike. "If you want to live, tell me where to find Uzumaki Naruto." Itachi stated as he glared at the genjutsu mistress with his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Kurenai's eyes widened. So that's what they were after. Naruto on his own wasn't a very desirable recruit for an organization of S-rank criminals, at least not yet but the power he held within him, that was a different matter altogether.
With the last of his fading consciousness, Sasuke also heard Itachi demanding the location of his blonde teammate.
'He…He's interested in Naruto, not me… The dobe even succeeded in piquing Itachi's interest…why? Why does he have to be so powerful that even Itachi is interested in him now and not me, Itachi didn't even care for me… I am too weak …too weak….' and his consciousness began to fade away and Sasuke's mind eye began widening as he began to feel unbelievably cold. 'What's…Happening? Am I…Am I dying? It's too cold? I…I can't die…not yet! Not until…I've avenged everyone. Damn it…why's my neck…on fire like when…I got bit by…that snake…' And with that Sasuke's consciousness faded.
"You… You're here after the Kyuubi, aren't you?" Kurenai asked as both her and Asuma's looks hardened further. Itachi's job was done, he had got the message across, now it was time to make their retreat, he took a glance at his partner Kisame and saw him locked in combat with the greatest taijutsu master of all elemental nations, Kisame would definitely understand that they were now at a disadvantage.
"Fall back Kisame, I can sense Konoha's ANBU approaching. We can't afford to be discovered." Itachi stated as he dodged another swipe from Asuma's knives.
Itachi knew that he would have to stop the two Jonin in front of him immediately.
'Forgive me Asuma, Kurenai.'
"Tsukuyomi"
The world around both Asuma and Kurenai changed, they found themselves tied up in a pole, with thousands of Itachis standing before them with Katanas in their hands, and the sky had taken an orange colour.
"Welcome to my world, the world of Tsukuyomi. Here, I control everything: Time, memories, and pain. Every second that passes in the real world equals seventy-two hours here, and yet even a second is far longer than you would expect within this realm. For those seventy-two hours, you will feel pain… and death, each passing second. No matter how much you suffer, all will be well with only the phantom aches of the previous second to prove it happened before it begins again. Let us begin." One of the Itachis stated as he stabbed his katana into Asuma's gut, then another stab followed, soon the Tsukoyomi world was filled with Asuma and Kurenai's screams of pain.
When Gai saw Asuma and Kurenai fall on the ground, unconscious, he got momentarily distracted, enough for Kisame to make his escape. By the time, Gai's attention was back to his enemy, they were long gone. He would have immediately given chase but the unconscious Kurenai, Asuma and Sasuke made that choice impossible for him.
He immediately summoned a small turtle.
"Inform Hokage-sama that Itachi Uchiha had infiltrated the village along with one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist and that Sasuke Uchiha, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuuhi have been seriously injured while facing them." The Green jumpsuit clad shinobi ordered, his turtle nodded and made a rush for the Hokage tower.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" and two copies of Gai appeared.
"Yosh, youthful mes, let's get our youthful comrades to the hospital." The original ordered, earning shouts of "Yosh!" and salutes from his 2 clones, they put Kurenai and Sasuke on their shoulders as the original put Asuma.
"Let's see which one of us reaches the hospital first!" the clone with Sasuke said with a grin and then the three made a mad dash for the hospital.
*Back in the Hokage tower, 20 minutes ago*
Gamakichi had gotten Kakashi and Naruto to the Hokage tower and had vanished after getting a candy from the blonde, who was still wiping cinnamon frosting from his mouth.
"Whoa! I never really expected to see you on that seat Ero-Sennin!" Naruto exclaimed making Jiraiya grin.
"Just because you call me Ero-Sennin doesn't mean I am useless. I am going to be the Godaime, you better start addressing me with respect Gaki." Jiraiya said with a smirk, half hoping that the blonde would comply considering the amount of respect he had for the position.
"Umm… I'll consider it after Shikamaru says that he hates sleeping, Ero-Sennin!"
In his mindscape, Kushina collapsed on the floor laughing.
"That's what you get for showing off your perverseness to my son, Ero-Sennin! Now even Minato has started calling you Ero-Sensei." The redheaded woman stated, sticking her tongue out, in Naruto's mindscape.
In the real world, Jiraiya sweatdropped, his expectations of getting addressed with respect from Naruto went down the gutter. Not that he actually minded.
"Anyways, I need you two to do a mission for me. Actually, I was planning on doing this mission myself with Naruto but since my new responsibilities don't allow me to be away from the village for too long, I want Kakashi to do it in my place."
"Understood Jiraiya-sama… I mean Godaime-sama."
"You can call me that after my inauguration."
Then Jiraiya handed the photo of his blonde teammate and love interest to Kakashi. The white haired Jonin raised an eyebrow.
"Tsunade-sama?"
"Yes, Kakashi. I need you to track down Tsunade and escort her back to the village. Let her know that the village needs her desperately. She is the only one who can perform the surgery required to treat Rock Lee's injuries and let him walk on his legs again." Jiraiya explained.
"Then I will definitely get this Tsunade out from wherever she is hiding, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto declared, raising his fist in the air.
"Ok you should set out tomorrow, choose some adequate teammates for it."
"Understood."
Just then the glass of the window of the Hokage's office shattered and Gai's small turtle flew in like a bullet, struck a wall, ricocheted off several walls, and finally landed on the table. Quite gently so, strangely enough for the sheer chaos it caused with its entrance.
"Gai wanted to let you know that Itachi Uchiha had infiltrated the village along with a swordsman from the Mist. They fought with Kurenai, Asuma and Sasuke, the three are seriously hurt and Gai is rushing them to the hospital."
"WHAT?!" Everyone, present in the room yelled in surprise. Hiruzen got very concerned for the wellbeing of his son. Hopefully Itachi didn't get too much into his role of playing the enemy.
"I suppose we should go and check upon them." Jiraiya commented, getting up from his seat.
'Itachi Uchiha, is he the one Sasuke wants to kill?' Naruto wondered as he went the hospital with the adults.
Kurenai and Asuma looked beaten up, with Asuma covered in small cuts like he got a bad shave while Kurenai just had blunt trauma bruising.
Sasuke was in another room in the same unit and, while he didn't have any serious injuries, he wasn't breathing right and so the hospital staff put him on ventilation.
"Well, this changes things…" Jiraiya muttered as Gai gave his report. Gai had been able to hear Itachi's attempted interrogation of Asuma and Kurenai, they had been after Naruto.
"Kakashi, I'm assigning the rest of your squad. Take team 8 with you, before I was going to allow them one more mission together but this just changed things, they'll come in handy for this mission." Jiraiya said and earned an intrigued look from Kakashi.
"Sounds like a reorganization, eh?" Kakashi said as he pulled out one of his books and began reading.
Jiraiya nodded: "I'm pulling Sakura from your squad and swapping her with Hinata. Kurenai's personal interests should never have been a factor in team selection. Hinata has a Lightning affinity which you specialize in and Sakura is noted to be a possible Genjutsu Type which Kurenai specializes in. Why she was so fixated on a tracker team is beyond me. I'm letting Team 8 have one last mission together before Hinata is pulled in to your squad. Kiba and his dog can help track a scent if you catch one and Shino can help warn you if Kisame comes after Naruto. Be ready to leave tomorrow."
Kakashi momentarily swapped back into his ANBU persona and nodded, "Yes sir."
*Meanwhile some distance away at Konoha's ninja academy, about an hour later*
On that infamous swing before the gate of the Ninja academy, which had been a silent witness to the mental breakdowns and the silent tears of one particular blonde-haired ninja, sat a small Hyuuga girl with brown hair. Her white eyes downcast, hands tightly clenched around the ropes of the swing. The girl's face was still stoic but it was getting tensed with every passing moment and an experienced observer would immediately tell that the girl was barely holding herself and would burst into tears any minute now.
What led to this situation? Let's just say that the heiress of the Hyuuga clan was having one really bad day today. To be precise, this tension had built up from the confusion that had developed in her mind after seeing her so-called 'failure' of an elder sister so unusually happy and satisfied after she had come back from the hospital.
Shouldn't she have been ashamed of herself for having had lost to Neji in the preliminary rounds? How could she not care about the fact that soon she was about to be moved to the branch house and was about to be branded with the caged-bird seal? How could she be so happy instead? Hanabi had no answer to that question. It would have been so easy to simply go to her and ask her. Her elder sister would always give her a kind smile whenever their eyes would meet, but Hanabi till that moment had always ignored that smile of hers. Why should she show any compassion or affection to that failure? The elders clearly explained that a true Hyuuga should never show any kind of compassion to the weak. The weak were to be exploited, they were supposed to be killed off protecting the strong, so the strong could avoid some damage and fight on longer. But even after obeying the elders' words to the 'T', even after building herself to be what one would call an ideal Hyuuga, Hanabi never really felt truly happy, instead, rather she felt … empty.
The confusion compounded after witnessing the final rounds, especially that fight between their clan's prodigy, Neji and that blonde haired boy that her elder sister admired so much. Hanabi had, until that match, never really understood why that boy was so special. But as the match went on, the worldview that she had developed, or rather had been drilled into her by the elders to be the perfect Hyuuga clan leader, came crashing down. It had been drilled into her that the Hyuuga were the strongest in the Leaf, she also knew that Neji was one of, if not the very best among the Hyuuga. She also knew for sure that the boy her sister admired was well known to be an absolute failure, a loser who was also the last of his class. But then during that match, said failure had been able to dominate Neji and for most of the duration of the match, that blonde had fought with weights on and still had countered everything Neji threw at him, 'Kaiten', '64-palms' you name it, all of them were countered masterfully and then the moment the blonde's weights were off, it hardly took fifteen more seconds for the match to end and that was probably because he simply wanted to toy with Neji just a bit more before going for the finish. And that finish, the final blow was dedicated to her elder sister! That beatdown was fought for her honour. It was unbelievable for Hanabi to imagine that someone would fight in her sister's name, the name of a weakling and a failure. But what was even more shocking was that a part of her mind had actually felt happy when the one fighting for her sister's sake won.
All that confusion soon began driving her mind apart as the days passed. Then came the news that her sister and that blonde boy had completed two A-ranked missions. A-ranked missions were something only jonins or at least tried and tested chunins carried out, not genins! But those two completed two A-ranked missions! Hanabi couldn't believe it. Her sister completing A-ranks! Even Neji hadn't been involved in an A-rank till date.
Then one day, Hanabi had seen her sister and that blonde boy walking together through the streets holding hands. Even that little girl could feel that those two had a lot of affection to each other, the smiles they gave each other, their looks. She had never seen her sister ever being happier. That day she had followed them around, to try to understand why was her sister so happy. But observing them only disturbed her even more. She saw them going to the top of the Hokage monument and have a picnic where they fed each other food. The weak existed only to serve the strong with everything they were, that had been taught to her by the Elders who also proclaimed that the Hyuuga were the strongest in not only the Leaf but the entire Elemental Nations. Hanabi had come to believe that her position meant that she was at least able to become the strongest in the clan, and if she proved herself superior to this Naruto Uzumaki, not only would she prove herself superior to Neji, but she would be able to force him to submit to the heiress. Hanabi almost took the first step towards challenging the boy, she held an advantage over Neji in that she knew what she was going to be facing, she wouldn't make the mistake of fighting her foe with faulty understanding of their capabilities. The elders taught her to think of every purpose those beneath her could serve, and in this moment all she could think of for Naruto and Hinata was that they could serve her food, it was all failure like them would be good for after all they wouldn't even be able to buy much time for anyone else so use them to wait on her whims like a spoiled and selfish brat of a noble. Perhaps with him accepting the younger of the two sisters as his superior she could get an answer on what Hinata was so happy about, but before her foot could even leave the ground to push her forward, the images of Naruto and Neji's fight flashed into her mind, Neji was the strongest of their generation and he had been turned into a punching bag. What could Hanabi do that would make things go different for her. And that strange cloak shaped like a fox came to mind and suddenly she could almost swear that the legendary Kyubi no Yoko's hateful red eyes burned at her for some reason. She wanted to scream, but the years of training to be the perfect Hyuuga stopped her, and rather than making a scene or disturbing those who she believed were unaware of her presence however brief, Hanabi left sulking and more disturbed than ever.
Throughout these days, her worldview was breaking apart. And finally, today it was taken down, torn apart by the cruel words of some of her classmates.
*Flashback some time ago in the academy*
"Haah! You Hyuuga always act so high and mighty, some strongest clan of the leaf you are!" A boy commented in the class, smirking at Hanabi soon after the period ended and before the next teacher had come to the class.
"Oh yeah! So strong that the dead-last of his class beat up their so-called prodigy! Hahahaha! And this girl here always acts so high, as if she has descended from heaven!" Another added in support.
Hanabi only glared at the two without really saying anything.
"Oh! Don't show those stupid white eyes to us, you idiot! You always behave as though those white eyes make you gods! What do you say, Shinjo, should we put her in her place?" Another boy added as the three slowly gathered by Hanabi's seat. The little girl felt a bit afraid and looked around. No one was saying anything in her support. Well, why should they? It was not like she had befriended or had treated any of them in a friendly way, never mind behaved in a way that would inspire someone to willingly stand up for her. And now, behaving in accordance to Hyuuga standards was biting her back.
However, before the boys could convert their words into action and get their hands on her, Hanabi was saved by the arrival of the teacher.
A fight, or more accurately a curb stomping of the Hyuuga Heiress, had been averted if only barely.
However, the mental damage had already been done.
'Are they really, right? Are the Hyuuga not the strongest in the leaf? Can the elders really be wrong? Have I been wrong all this time? Is big sister not a failure? Is that boyfriend of hers whom everyone calls a failure not a failure either?' These thoughts began overwhelming the young girl's mind as she slowly began mentally questioning the elders' teachings as well as her own actions over the last few years.
*End of flashback*
As Hanabi began mentally questioning the teachings of the elders, it all began making sense.
The naivete of youth that had been used to blind her and accept the elders' teachings had been pulled away and Hanabi began seeing with her own eyes.
And then the regret of being cruel to her elder sister, who had always been kind to her began hitting her with full force. Hanabi began feeling ashamed of herself and her actions ever since that day they were forced to fight to determine who would be the heiress.
Now her sister was happy, would she still accept her if she ran to her. For the first time in her life, Hanabi began feeling unsure of herself. And the thought of her sister turning her away, just as she had done to her many times over the years, made her feel nervous. Her elder sister being angry with her, made her feel afraid, sad and extremely depressed. And she was also afraid that her sister's boyfriend wouldn't accept any apology from her. He had punished Neji for hurting her sister, and Hanabi had hurt Hinata as well, why wouldn't he punish her as well?
All these thoughts began breaking the little Hyuuga girl from within. At first, she thought that sitting in silence for some time would help her overcome those depressing thoughts. But thinking more and more had landed the girl on the verge of tears and Hanabi was now finding it extremely difficult to hold her tears back any longer.
So, she got up from that swing and ran as fast as possible, towards any woods nearby, so she could let out her tears, which had now begun to well up on her eye lids. And the moment they spilt over it would be a downpour of tears.
What Hanabi had completely failed to notice was that she was being watched by a boy, one year her senior, wearing a blue scarf.
Konohamaru would describe the day he had had so far to be a good one. He had even managed to prank Iruka-sensei once, using one of the tricks Naruto nii-san had taught him. He was also happy that his grandfather had promised to look after his training, since he was soon retiring. The boy was indeed having a good time. The day before, Naruto-nii-san had introduced the 'honoured grandson' to his girlfriend. And immediately Konohamaru had decided that Hinata-nee-chan was the best elder sister he could have asked for.
So, now Konohamaru was exiting the academy with his gang, when his eyes landed upon the girl that was sitting upon that swing. He remembered nii-san telling him about how he would sit on that swing whenever he felt sad or lonely.
And now someone sitting there alone, looking down, Konohamaru was sure that this person was distressed as well. Upon looking with a bit more attention, Konohamaru remembered who this girl was, Hanabi Hyuuga, his junior. It wasn't that Konohamaru was best friends with her, but he had interacted with her, once or twice, well rather say…tried. She seemed to be so isolated and he figured it was because she knew similar pressures as he did; there was a rumor going around that if she wanted to, she could skip ahead a year any time she wanted, so she would have to be having great expectations placed on her. And people who have experienced similar situation tend to get along, right? But she would always respond to him stoically, call him 'Sarutobi-san' or 'Honoured Grandson', answer him in one or two words, due to which any possible conversation would die out.
But now, Konohamaru actually felt worried seeing her like that. She always acted so cool and her being so distressed was really unusual.
'Nii-san always says to talk to people when you see them in distress, never leave them alone, even if they don't want to talk to you, at least offer them help and tell them that you are there for them. Hanabi-san (Yeah, since she called Konohamaru, Sarutobi-san, he had begun calling her Hanabi-san.) looks disturbed, I have to check on her.' Konohamaru thought to himself, but before he could take a step forward, he saw Hanabi get off from the swing and run away.
"Moegi! Udon! You guys go on ahead, I'll be a bit late. I just remembered that I've got something to take care of." The Sarutobi boy told his friends before running off in the direction Hanabi had run off to.
Meanwhile after running for about ten minutes, Hanabi had finally collapsed on all fours. She had ironically chosen the very same spot where six years ago a certain blonde jinchuuriki and his Hime had met each other for the first time on a snowy night to cry her own eyes out. Choosing one of the trees to sit against, Hanabi had put her head over her knees and was now sobbing hard, mentally cursing herself for heeding to the words of the elders all the time and never paying attention to her own gut feeling.
She sobbed and sobbed. And that was how she was when Konohamaru had finally found her.
For a few moments, Konohamaru just kept staring at the sobbing girl in confusion, unable to decide what he should do. But then, well…he emulated what Naruto would have done in that situation, dive into it headfirst. And so, Konohamaru carefully walked up to the crying Hanabi.
"What's wrong, Hanabi-san?" He asked putting on his sincere most expression on his face.
At first, he didn't get a reply, so he carefully tapped her shoulders.
Hanabi's teary eyed face rose up to meet Konohamaru's own.
"Leave me alone! *sob* *sob* Go away!" She shouted in between her sobs.
"Sorry, I am not going anywhere until you stop crying. I'll be here for you." Came Konohamaru's response with a sincere smile.
"Why…*sob* do you even care!?" Hanabi lashed out again.
"Because those tears don't suit that cute face of yours, Hanabi-san." Konohamaru replied earnestly and not intending anything but the truth.
This one got Hanabi by surprise. People have called her many things, several good, some bad, but so far none had ever called her cute.
Trying to control her sobs, she looked up at the boy who was trying to help her. She didn't really have the words reply. But like any other girl, she did feel good being complimented like that.
Konohamaru sat beside her.
"Y-you t-think I-I am c-cute?" Hanabi asked him as she gradually got her sobbing under control.
"Umm…well yeah! You are really cute after all." Konohamaru responded with a grin. This made the little Hyuuga girl begin blushing. (Hey, she's a certain someone's younger sister after all…a certain someone who loves to blush…)
"T-Thank you." Hanabi responded putting a genuine smile on her lips, perhaps for the first time in years.
"Hey! You look so pretty smiling like that! You should smile more often!" The Sarutobi boy complimented again, making Hanabi's blush just a bit more red. But that did get her sobbing to stop.
And Hanabi also realized that her smiling was earning her some warm compliments, unlike those empty seeming ones she got in the Hyuuga household.
"Let's take you home then, Hanabi-chan!" Konohamaru suggested, only for Hanabi to shake her head.
"Don't wanna go home right now?" Konohamaru asked again. Hanabi again shook her head.
Now blue scarf wearing boy began contemplating.
"Umm….in that case, why don't ya come with me and play a bit, I'll also get Moegi and Udon to join us, we'll have a blast!" Konohamaru suggested with a grin.
While the years of training from the elders forbid any such actions, Hanabi's gut feeling told her that she should say yes and obeying the said gut feeling, she nodded, somewhat unsure of herself though.
"Yatta! That's great Hanabi-chan! We'll have a blast, let's go!" Konohamaru jumped up in joy, grabbed Hanabi's and off they went running, while Hanabi just kept staring with wide eyes at her new friend/saviour, with a small smile on her lips.
No longer would she be blindly guided by old fools. Hanabi would be forging her own path, with her own eyes to guide her way.
Though the two had an observer.
A Hyuuga observer.
'Hanabi-sama has begun to walk unblinded. Hiashi and Kyoko-sama both will wish to know. No longer am I content to be a servant to an old system or wait for someone else to destroy it for me all while remain bitter over it, I will take action to help ensure its destruction. And they are the best chance to do so within the clan itself.'
The observer left, with jaw length locks of dark green hair dangling in the winds as Byakugan eyes full of rekindled hope leapt through the trees.
A/N: And done. Another chapter done. Everyone's favourite Itachi has made his appearance (I honestly couldn't wait to bring him into the story, I was looking forward to it myself, He's No.4 on my favourite characters list after Naruto, Hinata and Minato.) Also hope you all liked the little interaction between Konohamaru and Hanabi. See you in the next chapter as a new Tsunade retrieval squad starts it's mission to seek and retrieve one alcoholic and gambling addicted medic-nin. RaNK001 out.