Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Lacking Sight ❯ Bloodlust ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Seated formally at their table in the plain, largely unfurnished room, the Hyuuga Clan's advisory council–primarily elders and including but not limited to former Clan Heads–met for the third time in that week. Though each one spoke with a calm, almost inflectionless tone, the tension within the room was readily palpable to anyone paying attention. Fortunately, they were the only ones within the room, and nobody else could feel their fear; it would not do to have people think that the higher-ups in Hyuuga politics were actually under such stress.
A bent stick of a man, barely five feet tall and so thin that he almost might have slipped in underneath the door, rose to his feet to address the small congregation.
“It has happened at last, my kinsmen,” he wheezed. “Our revered lord, Hiashi-sama, begins to see the truth of his daughter's behavior.”
A younger member of the elder council, whose hair had not entirely turned gray, snorted. “It is past time he did. For the last three years we have mongered these rumors over and over, and brought as much evidence to the table as we could garner. But the fool refused to believe. He wouldn't hear anything against his precious daughter until his other daughter–a much better candidate for leadership–shoved the truth under his nose!”
The sickly man narrowed his milky white eyes. “You would do well not to insult our master, young one. Disagree with his methods if you must–as even I am wont to do–but do not forget that he is still your ultimate commander. We cannot openly speak against him.”
Grumbling, the younger elder sank back into his seat. The older councilor continued.
“Now that Hiashi-sama is in doubt, we should do all in our power to force the issue, make our revered lord certain that Hinata-sama is not fit to govern our Clan. We can no longer claim so on the basis of her weakness, for her weakness has vanished. Therefore, we will seek to prove that she cannot make proper judgments.”
“Aye,” said a large, barrel-chested, grizzled old Hyuuga near the end of the table, “Gallivanting around with a demon is surely unbecoming of a Hyuuga, especially a successor.” Many heads nodded in agreement. “But what of the demon boy himself? If he has developed an attachment to Hinata-sama, and is being aided by Haruka as Hiashi-sama says, then he could still threaten...”
“Measures are being taken to remove Haruka from his aid as we speak,” wheezed the first elder. “Her own kinsmen in the Branch House were more than willing to go and capture her for us. She is not well-known in the village; we will be able to hold her here, unquestioned, until the situation is controlled... and then we will remove her from the village to a place where she may do no harm forevermore.”
“Even so,” pressed the large elder, “The demon's mortal father, Uzumaki, nearly overcame us despite our efforts to stop him. The boy is not as mature or as experienced as he. He is still a demon, however, and even without Haruka's knowledge, he has allies. Suppose that his cohort, the one who styles himself after the Great Father...”
“Our revered lord is not entirely a fool, as I have said,” interrupted the first. “The demon's 'cohort' is no more our ancestor than he is a threat to our system. Hiashi-sama knows as well as you or I that he is a self-deceiving lunatic attempting to avenge his father, Uzumaki, by destroying us while in the semblance of our father. He is powerful, yes... but he cannot harm us, as even he acknowledges. He can trouble us only through his younger sibling–the demon child–and Hinata-sama. We will allow neither to believe that we will allow it.”
A fourth elder spoke up from his seat across the table from the first. “If I may ask, my respected senior, how do you propose to stop him? We cannot simply purge the demon, for there are too many in the village–Hokage-sama among them–who would charge us as cold-blooded murderers even though we would be doing them a favor.”
The first elder nodded, then replied, “We do not need to kill him at all. Why should we, when there are plenty who may do it for us?”
An elder at the other end of the table whispered to his neighbor, “I doubt anybody told Hiroto that before he was sent...”
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From the roof above the secret meeting of the Advisory Council, a young man with silver eyes, clad in traditional Hyuuga robes, deactivated his Byakugan. From what he had read on his senior's lips, things were about to become very rough for his new friends.
Silent and fleet-footed as a panther stalking prey, Hyuuga Neji leaped from the rooftop and hurried off to look for Haruka.
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Hyuuga Hiroto was a man who came easily to anger. Although he had been the Captain of the elite guard since Hiashi had taken power–it was common practice within the clan that the Clan Head and the Captain of the guard came to power and left it together–and although he was perfectly happy to carry out his duties, his life left something to be desired: family.
He was part of a large extended family within the Hyuuga, of course, but he had virtually nobody that he could have hailed as true brethren. His parents had died in the line of duty when he was three years old, and his cousin Hizashi–the only person he'd felt close to since the death of his parents, who had left him with no siblings–had been sacrificed for the sake of his brother years ago. The unjustified death of Hizashi had made him a bitter man as well as bloodthirsty, which did not endear him to women, so he had no wife and no children. He was unloved, and easily the most quick-tempered man among the Hyuuga. Luckily, he was also one of the most disciplined Hyuuga, for otherwise he might have lashed out dangerously in his anger and gotten himself in serious trouble.
He had been annoyed to be sent running off after Hiashi's daughter, a job that should have been easy for any Hyuuga with a brain: check all of her usual hangouts, check with the gate guard to see if she'd left the village walls, follow his directions, wait for Kakashi the Copy-Ninja to get out of the way in case force was necessary, then tell her she's been ordered to come with you. If she resists, just grab her.
The blond devil's challenge had brought forth his icy rage. He almost killed the young fool outright, without bothering to fight him, but his discipline denied him that pleasure. If the boy was simply too clumsy or stupid to guard himself properly, though... well, it wouldn't be his fault, now, would it? It had been the devil who'd picked the fight, not him.
The demon child attacked him head-on, predictable as clockwork. Hiroto's anger began to give way to sadistic enjoyment as he lazily slapped the punches away, slipped aside of the kicks. He toyed with the boy for several seconds, finally grabbing hold of his arm and stepping on his foot to prevent him from jumping away. He faked a yawn to spite the brat, then flicked his Byakugan on and jabbed his fingers at the boy's shoulder, meaning to cut chakra flow to his right arm. He wanted to defuse the kid slowly, playfully, and end it with his opponent twitching on the ground, unable to stop him from hauling Hinata-sama away.
Hiroto wasn't going to have that satisfaction, however. The rapid-fire blows struck the tenketsus dead-on, but Hiroto's Byakugan did not register an end to the chakra flow; it saw instead an outward projection of it, snaking out of the tenketsus he had just struck and out of all the tenketsus in the boy's body. They danced aimlessly in the air around the two of them, waiting for some silent instruction from the main body. Hiroto's anger returned, and his face screwed up in surprise and rage.
“Ha HA!” Naruto crowed, “Looks like I'm not the only one who didn't pay attention in history lessons. The Rokujuuyon Reiude blocks your chakra manipulation, dunce. Didn't you guys learn from the last person who used it?”
The provocation worked well enough. In fact, Hiroto hadn't been present when the last person was working his work; he'd been undergoing his inception into the elite guard, which involved highly intense training and little time for history lessons. The Branch Captain forgot entirely his intention to merely subdue the brat, and drew back his palm to deliver a killing Jyuuken strike.
The strike was stopped long before it could reach flesh. A thick appendage made entirely of chakra blocked its path. Hiroto was both shocked and outraged to see that it was made of intertwined strands of the extended chakra coils, and that there were eight more just like it attached in the same place at the base of Naruto's spinal column.
“Nine tails!” he shouted in fury. “You've even gone so far as to mimic your previous demonic form! I will purge you, devil boy!”
He rushed upon Naruto with both hands full of killing rage made chakra. The boy parried with his chakra Tails and counterattacked with his fists and feet. Hiroto used all of his power and experience in the Jyuuken style, turning every dodging motion into a strike, every parried blow into an evasion, and every near miss into more fuel for his fury.
From the sidelines, Hinata clasped her hands before her, squeezing them together in fright for Naruto. The blond shinobi fought hard and fought valiantly, fully using the advantages of his nine extra limbs. However, he was not a master as Hiroto was; the Hyuuga Captain was stronger, more agile, and more learned than he, and many strikes came close to hitting their mark. Hiroto was not holding back, she knew–a single hit would be fatal. She wanted desperately to go to him, throw herself into the conflict and halt it, but she saw Hiroto's Lieutenants hovering nearby, waiting to prevent her from moving. There was no way that she could go through them and reach Naruto in time.
“Naruto-kun,” she breathed, becoming sick with dread. Already she could see that the blond was tiring, Hiroto's rapid and skilled attacks eating up his stamina. He would fail soon, and there was nothing that Hinata could do about it.
Beside her, Sakura was also looking extremely worried. She knew Naruto better than the Hyuuga girl, and knew what desperation could drive him to; Tsunade had told her all about the red chakra that was her old teammate's trump card. She feared for her friend's life, of course, and for Hinata's safety, but she also feared what Naruto's fight for survival and domination would bring forth from within him.
Naruto could feel his heart racing within him, ready to explode. His lungs burned with strain, trying desperately to supply his muscles with the oxygen they needed to keep up with Hiroto's assault. Every movement had to be forced through fatigue, every breath had to be drawn in spite of pain. And all this from exhaustion, versus an opponent who had nine fewer hands than he did.
How the hell is he so good with just his taijutsu? Thought he thought. I have to focus almost completely on parrying, and I'm lucky if I can get a punch off. There's no time to form any hand seals at all, and he follows me every time I try to jump away. How the heck can I beat this?
Then Hinata's fears were played out. Hiroto smiled triumphantly, knocked aside a last pestering Tail, and rammed a full blast of murderous chakra straight into Naruto's heart. The container of Kyuubi was hurled off his feet and smashed his back into a tree, then slumped to the ground.
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She couldn't say that she didn't expect to be ambushed by her own clansmen, but Haruka certainly didn't expect an organized attack of this magnitude. She was currently surrounded by no less than fifteen members of the Branch House. All of them fully geared, fully armed, and looking very, very happy to have caught her alone. Their headbands glinted in the flashing lightning above, flickering promises of doom...
Unless, of course, she cooperated, as promised the leader of the pack. Haruka noted that the middle-aged woman that had accosted her at the Hyuuga front gate was not among them. Whether she was too ill in her head or not gutsy enough to face Haruka herself, Haruka did not care. There were other enemies among her own kin, and these were them. She had to get herself out of this, somehow.
They stood just outside the village walls, barely out of earshot of the gate guards. It was a bold move they were making; not much closer to the gate and they would have drawn attention to themselves. Haruka supposed that she should have known better than to take a stroll so far out of the safe haven of the village streets, but she was one who needed a taste of wilderness every now and again, and she hadn't been able to stay inside long. She had thought it would be okay, since most Hyuuga would not have been able to guess her habits, she having been gone so long.
“So, Hiashi must have tipped you off,” she said bitterly. Inwardly, she scorned herself for thinking that Hiashi would be merciful.
“No, not at all,” said the leader. “Your friend, Hiashi, has nothing to do with this. It was the High Councilor that thought you might come out for a little air. He is old and very wise.”
“He would have to be, wouldn't he?” said Haruka. “Since you have to be a pretty senile old fart to become High Councilor.” Below her cold expression, Haruka's mind felt a little relieved. Hiashi might have read her letter and sent the whole clan out after her, but apparently he wasn't completely given over to cold, emotionless dictatorship. He had opted to simply ignore her. However, the Advisory Council was another matter entirely.
“Hmph,” grumped the leader, “That may be, but we in the prime of life also have our reasons to see you locked away under the compound–one of them being that we will be able to catch you up on all the great fun you've been missing while you were off in your sheltered little home away from home.”
Having no doubts about what kind of 'fun' he had in mind, Haruka said, “Your offer is noted. However, I already am late to several previous engagements–one of them being the redemption of our beleaguered Branch House–and so I must decline. You'll understand if I go my own way now.”
Several of the enemies surrounding her chuckled. The leader replied, “So, it's redemption, is it? How laughable–allying with a demon child and a lunatic to 'save' us!”
Though she had heard the words countless times before, this seemed to be a case of too many straws on the camel's back. The Hyuuga outcast trembled with anger. “Naruto-kun is the Kyuubi's jailer, you arrogant half-wits!” Haruka yelled. “If not for him, the true demon would have razed this village years ago! And Keisuke, blind idiot that he is, has more sight into the heart of things than all of your Byakugan eyes together–if he is a lunatic, then I will tear out my own eyes before I believe it!” The defiant words rang out in the afternoon forest, and it seemed that all of the wildlife was silent in solemn tribute to her determination.
“If that is your wish,” said the squadron leader, “Then we will be glad to assist you. But come now, we've wasted too much time already. Keeping us talking in hopes that a patrol would eventually find us was clever, but our patience only stretches so thin. Will you yield yourself to us, Haruka-san?”
Haruka stood her ground, eyes blazing white fury. She neither spoke nor moved.
The leader sighed. “Very well. Take her!”
A hand signal sent the fourteen other members of the capture team straight at the outcast. Moving as one, the semicircle closed in upon the target with terrible speed, leaving no room to escape. With a wall at her back and only enemies before her, Haruka knew there was only one way out of this: fight, and hold nothing back. As Naruto would have taught, surrender is never an option.
She fell into her Jyuuken stance, brought the chakra up from the depths of herself. She loathed fighting against her own kin. Yet she knew that, in a way, she was also fighting for them, and for her own redemption. This was what drove her; she used it as her sword and her salve.
As the fourteen attackers closed on her, she brought her rage and determination to the surface, twirled with the force of a gale, and sent it all lashing out at the Hyuuga who were both enemies and friends. The ground crumbled at her feet, and the capture team was flung backward. A few intelligent fighters turned their momentum to their advantage, and guided themselves to a safe landing. More than half of them, however, were sent careening across the forest floor, sustaining mild to moderate injury.
The leader's face revealed shock and awe. “So, you have been taught the Kaiten,” he said, amazement showing through his tone. “No member of the Branch family is meant to know that maneuver, and only one has ever figured it out for himself. Where could you have gleaned the knowledge?”
Haruka came gracefully out of her spin and settled back into her Jyuuken stance. “Let us say,” she said, her pupils contracting with deadly purpose, “That it pays to have known the Head of the clan when he was younger and less strict. Don't worry; when Keisuke and I succeed, you also will be granted powers that you have been denied.” Looking into her crackling eyes, the leader had a very queasy feeling come over him. He could see that she believed in and meant everything that she said... But was she believing truth?
No, he thought. She has either chosen to believe a lie, or she is demented. “Do not relent!” he commanded. “She is strong, but now we know her strength, and the superiority of our numbers remains!”
Taking their commander's words to heart, the capture team picked themselves up and renewed their advance. This time they were more cautious; they came in ones and twos so as not to provoke another Kaiten, and they rotated in and out in a coordinated dance of death.
Haruka, however, had fought such coordinated assaults before, against Naruto's armies of Kage Bunshins. She ducked over and under, juked left and juked right, evading all their efforts. She was the center of a maelstrom, her hands were the event horizon of a black hole. Her enemies were drawn to her, and if they were not quick enough, they would be sucked into her Jyuuken palm and enter the dark void, never to return.
Two of her enemies fell. The attack became more frantic, less coordinated.
Another went down. Morale among her enemies went down with him.
A fourth was rendered unable to attack due to chakra being cut off from both of his arms. A fifth was gouged in his eyes and collapsed to the ground, whimpering like a child.
With only nine opponents left, Haruka began to feel fear seeping into the hearts of her foes. This knowledge elated her, brought her into a state of mind where nothing mattered but herself and her opponent, and how she was destroying that opponent both physically and mentally. It was almost like bloodlust–Keisuke liked to call it her “Sadist's Glow.”
She stood in their midst like a mighty colossus, wielding fury and chakra together in a symphony of destruction. Wherever her feet landed, winds kicked up, hurling dust in the eyes of the enemy. Wherever her gaze turned, her foes cringed, fearing for their lives. Yet they were not broken; they kept coming, if in a less and less organized fashion.
Well, she thought, they're about scared enough now, so we can fix that rather easily.
The black bandanna that she kept wrapped around her cursed seal came loose at her behest, fluttering to the ground. Exposed to the eyes of her enemies was her seal–but it was not the seal that the Hyuuga capture team expected to see. A normal Caged Bird seal was etched in green, burned into the skin like a scar. They were shocked to discover that Haruka's seal appeared more like it had been merely written upon her forehead by an elegant calligraphist, not burned. And the seal itself was shining a very peculiar color.
Haruka smiled, remembering the day she had been blessed with this new seal. It had come about when Keisuke had lost to her in a drinking contest...
“Pay up, blind man,” Haruka said, smiling the superior, triumphant smile that Keisuke hated.
“Gah, I'm flat broke,” whined the red-faced Keisuke. His speech was slurred, and he couldn't seem to manage sitting up straight. “Would yeh take an I.O.U.?”
“No,” she pressed on, knocking him off of the bar stool to the floor with a flick of her finger. She waited until he had righted himself, grunting painfully, and then put on her most sadistic tone of voice. “I think I'll enjoy my reward now. A reward of entertainment...”
“Dam... et...”
“Strip to your boxers and run ten times around the building, singing at the top of your lungs.”
“Grr. What shong?” When he was roaring drunk, Keisuke was surprisingly obedient. He was out of his pants and his shirt within twenty seconds, and was drawing a great many stares.
“Surprise me. Just about anything you can sing while you're wasted would humiliate you as much as ten defeats at my hands.”
“Ragh... I can't think of anything right now...” Keisuke thought a moment, looking very comical in his boxers and sandals, his red face a mess of drunken concentration. “Shay,” he said, “What if I gave you a preshent?”
Haruka was intrigued. “What kind of present?”
Keisuke grinned like a happy child. Haruka felt one of his Ghostly Arms slip underneath her bandanna and brush up against her forehead. “What?” she said, astonished.
Keisuke did not answer, but instead worked more of his Arm up to her forehead. She felt a cool tingle on her Caged Bird seal, as though the Arm was a balm to the charred canyons that the Main family had burned into existence there.
Haruka dropped to her knees next to Keisuke, seized him by the shoulders. “What the hell did you just do? You know what you were messing with?”
The blind man grinned stupidly. “I fixed it,” he said. “Fat-Head family can't hurt you wit it anymore! My Arm'sh in it, my chakra'sh in it... their killin' jutshu won't reach through that,”
Haruka gaped at him. How long had he been keeping this from her? “You... you covered up the Caged Bird?”
“And... AND!” Keisuke said, standing up and looking drunkenly proud of himself, “My chakra'sh foreign, so the Main Housh bashtardsh won't figure out how to break t'rough it! I'm brilliant!”
He's something, that's for sure, thought Haruka.
“Happy birthday, shcary loser!”
Haruka was torn between wondering how he'd found room in his drunken brain to remember her birthday and wondering about the origin of this new name he had for her. The latter option won.
“'Scary loser,' huh, Keisuke?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What are you scared of?”
“Uh... huhm...”
“It wouldn't be the punishment I keep having to give you,” she asked, grabbing the barkeep's pet cat and hurling it into his face, “Would it?”
Keisuke thrashed as the feline's claws dug into his face, and finally he tumbled out of the second-story window into the night air. His boxers remained behind, caught on the window latch. Grabbing her camera, Haruka walked over to the window, looked down to where he had landed, unconscious in a dumpster, and snapped off a few quick shots.
“Now this,” she said, “Is a much better birthday present than I ever expected.”
The next morning, Keisuke would wake up with his worst hangover yet, wondering why one of his Arms was shorter than the other sixty-three and without the faintest clue of the previous night's events.
Haruka smiled fondly at that memory; it was one of her favorites. Then she concentrated, running her chakra through the altered seal and increasing it's luster tenfold.
Apart from rendering her immune to the nerve-killing jutsu that the Main House could perform on the Branch, Haruka had discovered that the piece of Reiude affixed to the seal fed upon Haruka's chakra to preserve itself, and had the interesting side effect of altering chakra that she pushed through it to resemble Keisuke's.
While having been invaded by the blind idiot's energy wasn't the most pleasant of thoughts, it did help her out in certain situations; being able to replace one's chakra signature with someone else's was an invaluable tool when being pursued by a skilled shinobi. It had also proven useful for scare tactics, for Keisuke's chakra–when visible–was colored differently from most humans' when he was in the heat of battle. It was a bright blue, but there was a sickly yellow tint to it that suggested all was not normal with the man.
It did the same for her. The seal upon her forehead shone with that same tint as she channeled chakra through it. And as the tainted chakra spread through her, it appeared vividly in the eyes of her Byakugan-wielding opponents.
The leader, still standing where he'd been since the fighting began, was aghast with shock. “It cannot be! The demon child has passed his taint into his allies!” The nine remaining opponents turned their Byakugan eyes off, unable to believe what they were seeing and frightened to look upon it any more.
This was what Haruka had been hoping for. She brought her hands together in a quick set of seals, preparing a jutsu that was, by Hyuuga standards, very unorthodox.
“You are afraid,” Haruka said, layering her voice with all the malice she could muster. “That is well. Akuma Gyoushi!” (Demon Gaze)
The genjutsu took effect immediately. Her opponents, who had turned off their Byakugans to avoid looking at the unsightly color of Keisuke's chakra, now were forced to look upon it. A gargantuan pair of eyes and a forehead engulfed their vision. The eyes were unmistakably active Byakugan eyes, but instead of blazing silver-white, they glimmered with the same bright yellow-tainted blue that characterized the seal on the forehead. The brow was contracted in wrathful anger, and their fear of that anger was in complete control.
As they cowered, Haruka moved swiftly to knock them all out. One by one, her genjutsu-captivated attackers were struck on the head and granted peace in unconsciousness. When it was done, she stood in her victory over their prone forms, facing their leader. He, at least, had had the sense to keep his Byakugan on, and protect himself from the genjutsu.
“So,” he said, as Haruka began a slow march up the hill towards him, “It has come to this. Just us two. Man-to-man. Just you, and me, and... my reinforcements!”
Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by twenty-five more Hyuuga Branch members, who leaped into view from their various hiding places out of range of her Byakugan.
Haruka's Byakugan barely had time to register the speeding masked Hyuuga as he leaped from the wall. Her perception was as good as any Hyuuga, but she had expended much energy on the skirmish already, and the man had gotten a running start from beyond the range of her vision. By the time she had turned, the man's chakra-charged palm had struck her squarely in the heart.
She keeled over, seemingly dead. The commander breathed a relieved sigh, and deactivated his Byakugan. “You've arrived just in time. I thought she would murder me for sure! You're in line for a promotion, sir... er... what is your name, anyway? With my Byakugan off I cannot see your face under...”
He was silenced by a subtle strike to a pressure point in his spinal column, and toppled to the ground with his fellows. He would live, but there would be no fighting for a while with a pinched nerve. The other twenty-five Branch Housers were startled, rushed forward to see who betrayed them. They didn't get the chance.
“Hakke Shou Daikaiten!”
The massive wave of swirling chakra blasted them directly, knocking them asunder. None of them got back up.
“I apologize, Haruka-san,” said the masked Hyuuga. “If I hadn't made you play dead first, this idiot might have guessed he had been betrayed, and looked under the mask before he fell. I don't want to lose my cover just yet.”
He pulled his mask off, revealing the face of Hyuuga Neji.
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Naruto lay before a massive set of vertical steel bars, floating upon the chill waters of the one place where his soul was dark. Affixed to the lock on the heavy metal gate was a paper tag, upon which was written the word, SEAL.
Oh, no, he thought with anger, not this place again...
Oh, yes, rumbled the low voice from behind the gate, you are here again. It's been such a long time, boy... You're becoming more skilled at running away.
I'm getting better at winning!Naruto protested. I'm strong enough on my own. I can use the Reiude now, thanks to Keisuke, and Ero-Sennin's training toughened me up way beyond my old level. It's because I haven't needed you that we haven't seen each other, stupid fox; not because I've been hiding like a pansy.
Is that so? You're still weak, little one. Not as weak as the last time we met, I grant you that. But you are running away and hiding–hiding from the power that can solve everything for you!
You, huh?
Yes. As strong as you may become, little one, it is nothing compared to what I can give you. Compared with me, you are a speck. Why do you refuse to gain power?
A memory flashed in Naruto's mind, one of Keisuke:
“Never trust demons. All the power that they promise, they will deliver, of course... but for every ounce of power gained, there is a price that they will exact. More often than not, the power isn't worth half the price. I know; I dealt with demons centuries before you were born.”
Heed that sniveling coward if you wish, scoffed Kyuubi, but you've known me far longer than you've known him. You have seen what I do for you. And you know that even now, your body is dying... lend it to me, and I will mend it. Not only that, I will take vengeance upon that imbecile Hyuuga, and then we will sniff out your old 'friend' Uchiha. You know that I can do this.
No sale, stupid fox. Naruto was adamant. He wanted to prove once and for all that he was stronger than Kyuubi.
But Kyuubi only laughed. You are DYING, little one. I am the only one who may heal you. Your 'teammate' cannot get to you... she has been seized by the Hyuuga's lieutenants.
Naruto persisted, despite the fact that he felt himself weakening. I'll keep myself alive, thanks a lot. At least long enough to kick that Hiroto bastard's ass, and then Sakura can heal me... besides, even if I die, you'll go with me, so Konoha wouldn't be yours to ransack anyway.
Are you certain you want to take that chance? Did you not swear that until you saved Uchiha Sasuke, you would never die? I thought you didn't break promises, Kyuubi snickered.
Naruto pressed with all his will, forcing himself to rise, to make himself fight. But it was all in vain. No amount of willpower could piece his shattered bones back together, staunch the internal bleeding, and heal his organs. Sakura and Kakashi are still there, if I'm gone, he said. And I won't really die... If I don't have a body, I can haunt Sasuke in his dreams until he goes insane. He'll see the sacrifices we made for him, and he'll come around.
You really believe that, huh? Kyuubi sneered at him, unimpressed. Or are you just too stubborn to take my help and save yourself? Weak child, I am at my wits' end... ah, but perhaps there is one thing yet that might sway you. Here, I will open your eyes for you... you can see for yourself...
Naruto felt Kyuubi's chakra flow, and his eyes open. It was not sight as he knew it; it was like watching the outside world through two huge windows. But through it, he could see what Kyuubi wanted him to see. There was Sakura being held fast in the grip of Hiroto's accomplice, pale-faced and struggling, trying to reach him, heal him. The sight moved him.
Then he saw the other lieutenant, holding the other girl that had come with him that morning, and was blown away. Hinata's face was the saddest, most beautiful sight he had ever seen. There was no red color in it, for once. Always before, she had never looked at him directly without turning some variation of the color red. Now, though, it was wondrously and lustrously pale, and even with the tears streaking down from her anguished lavender-tinted eyes, Naruto was nearly melted under its radiance. She made no sound, and her lips did not move. All communication was in her eyes, her entrancing pale eyes. They were begging him, pleading with him not to go, not to abandon them.
Not to die.
Look at that face, commanded Kyuubi, smiling wickedly all the while. Would you not give up all your soul, even to a stupid fox, if asked by a face like that?
No further conversation took place. The decision had already been made.
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Hiroto released his Byakugan, satisfied that the devil child would soon be gone from the world. He ordered his two lieutenants to seize the girls, hold off the medic until the boy died, and to prepare Hinata-sama for departure. When the lieutenants encountered resistance, Hiroto moved forward, intending to introduce the whelps to the sandman.
“Naruto!”
“Naruto-kun!”
Annoye d, Hiroto rolled his eyes. “The devil boy is on his way to the abyss. You would do well not to follow him,” he said. Then he saw the looks on the girls' faces shift from death-shock to astonishment and mild fright. He wondered turned himself back to face the corpse...
Then he was head-butted by the corpse in his gut, producing a very uncomfortable sensation. He flew backwards, skidding to a halt some fifty yards away. Luckily for him, Hiroto had not yet eaten today (which had caused him to be in a particularly bad mood until now), and thus he did not feel an immediate need to throw up. This was well, for he barely dodged the next attack, which was nothing less than a clawed hand formed entirely of chakra.
Boiling, dark red chakra.
Hiroto flipped his Byakugan back on. His superior vision saw the boy in his entirety, flesh and bone, inner chakra coils, organs, and the Reiude. He could see that all of this was completely engulfed in this new, evil chakra. Even more appalling: the damaged bones and organs were healing before his eyes!
It was obvious in a flash that he could not fight this alone. “Leave the females!” he called to his lieutenants. “Kill the demon!”
Unfortunately, the lieutenants were unable to comply. Each of them had attempted to follow orders, but had been immediately blocked by their former captives. They were locked in combat with Sakura and Hinata, who were working to keep themselves away from the beast as well as their enemies. Hiroto was alone against this demon of dark lore.
Naruto fought to keep the chakra's destructive impulses in check. He would allow Kyuubi to heal him, and defeat this bastard, but he would let the fox go no further. He maintained conscious control as best he could, though it was difficult. Meanwhile, his nine Tails of Light had become nine tails of flame, with every Ghostly Arm that had not been used before peeling off from its old location and joining the tail formation at the base of his spine. The intense concentration of evil chakra caused the Arms to burst into deadly fire.
These tails lashed about in all directions as he ran on all fours towards Hiroto, wilting and scorching in their wake. Leaping into the air, Naruto fanned them out and spun them, generating a burning wind that incinerated the ground where Hiroto had been a split second before.
The Hyuuga, though he was sweating profusely in the heat, took advantage of Naruto being of his feet to position himself for a strike, waiting for the demon-infused blond to land. But Naruto's blazing tails enveloped him in a protective firewall, and forced Hiroto to either retreat or collide with the human meteor. Naruto landed on his feet, spread his tails behind him, and gave a howl of frustration.
Hiroto knew that this was too much. As angry as he was, there was no way to match this beast's fury, and nothing he could do to negate its power. He did what no Hyuuga would think of doing except in the most dire of circumstances: Hiroto completely abandoned his mission. Sprinting away with all the speed he could make, he bounded away into the forest. Hiroto's lieutenants saw this, panicked, and followed suit, disengaging from Sakura and Hinata to flee as best they knew how.
Pursue! Roared Kyuubi in Naruto's head. Kill!
Damn you, you stupid demon! This is my body! Countered Naruto. I make the rules! They fought an inner struggle, and their shared body reflected it by stamping around on the scorched earth, making angry growls. Neither Sakura nor Hinata dared approach.
“Naruto-kun...” Hinata said. Her voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper. “What is this that you've become? What is wrong with you?” She stood there a long moment, cowed by her fear of the evil red chakra. Then, Haruka's words came to her out of the chaos of her mind...
“Push a little, and he will fall right into your arms... nobody can oppose you...” Not even the beast that consumes him? Despite her fear, her legs found themselves moving her tentatively forward.
Sakura started in fear, knowing herself what was going on. “Hinata-chan! Stay back! He's not himself right now!” But her words fell on deaf ears. Hinata kept walking, her eyes fixed determinedly and questioningly on the flame-tailed blond boy.
Naruto also saw her coming. He felt destructive instinct coil up inside him, seeing a possible outlet for his frustration...
Oh, hell no. Naruto stared the mental Kyuubi in the face as he fought to wrestle him down. You are not gonna make me turn myself over to you for her sake and then kill her. You will definitely not sink that low.
I might, if you aren't careful, brat. Then Kyuubi's control gave out, and his evil face withdrew back into the darkness of his cage. He took his chakra with him, and the fire of Naruto's tails faded to their regular blue glow, then faded away completely.
“Hehe... I win again,” he said aloud. It seemed that he had indeed won over Hiroto and–for the moment–over Kyuubi.
Ah, well, murmured the fox, we'll see what happens the next time your own strength fails you... which, considering your situation, shouldn't be long in the future at all...
At last, the nine-tailed fox demon went to sleep, dreaming his dreams of rampage and chaos as he waited for his next opportunity.
If I have anything to say about it, Naruto retorted before going to sleep himself, there isn't gonna be a next time.
He collapsed in exhaustion. A pair of slender, supportive arms caught him.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO End Chapter Thirteen OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO