Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Living Shrine ❯ Introductions, Part 2 ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though if I come across the rights for it, I vow to not have lame filler episodes when needed. (hey, it's a start…)

 

Chapter 3, Introductions, Part 2

 

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The Hyuga Compound. Living quarters of the most powerful shinobi clans left in Konoha. Very renowned for their Doujutsu and their very particular style of fighting. Their JÅ«ken style taijutsu has always been feared because of their combination with the Byakugan and the ability to strike the opponents' tenketsus.

 

The most powerful JÅ«ken user to date was the head of the family, Hyuga Hiashi. He was only rivaled by his nephew, who was a branch family member and was quickly becoming a favorite in Hiashi's eyes. And speaking of Hiashi; he could be seen in the central training grounds of the compound, fervently striking at several training dummies, placed in different attacking positions. His Byakugan deactivated and his eyes closed, you could see that he was training himself in case he was low on chakra, striking with precision where the chakra points would be. Blue bursts of chakra would flare with each strike that the dummies would receive.

 

His thoughts were wandering a bit as the chakra flares would strike a bit off target every other hit. Something was troubling and it probably had something to do with that afternoon. `I still don't understand why he didn't kill him…a demon doesn't show compassion…it must be a front! Yes that's what it is! He toys with us to leave us unprepared for a surprise attack that he plans against the village!' Strike after strike, flare after the flare, Hiashi seemed to dance amongst the stoic targets. His senses heightened by chakra, his control to deliver the strikes perfectly, but they seemed to continue hitting off their target. `I guess I should stop for the moment. There's too much on my mind and I can't concentrate correctly.' He assured himself. `I should probably let the council know about my suspicions.' He proceeded to open his eyes and look around for his refreshments. `Ah, there they are.' He thought.

 

As he approached one of the benches that held a towel to dry his sweat and a bottle to quench his thirst, a slight rustle of feet could be sensed on the way to his location. He looked up from the bench he had taken a seat and waited for the person to either pass and keep on going or ask to speak with him.

 

“I really hope it's not for me.” He spoke softly to himself. He closed his eyes and raised his head to look upwards. The evening sun was setting in the horizon and the orange streaks of sunlight would gently hit his face from the position he was sitting. He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes once more, flinching just a bit as he got used to the rays of waning light hit his unshielded eyes. “I don't feel like talking to anyone at the moment.”

 

Unlucky for him, the footsteps stopped at the entrance to the training grounds, and the sound of a sliding paper door made him turn towards that direction.

 

“Pardon the interruption, Hiashi-sama…” came a female voice from the door. “…but there are two ANBU and a blond shinobi by the name of Yosugi Yashiro that seek a mom…”

 

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!” came the surprised yell from the clan elder. His pale lavender eyes shot open at the sound of the ninja's name and they bore unto the unsuspecting messenger. The young Hyuga branch member was startled at her master's outburst that she had to take a few seconds to regain her composure. “Ano, two ANBU and a boy that goes by the name of Yosu…”

 

“I know what you said, Shizuka. I apologize for the reaction, but the only Kumo nin that I've seen is…” His eyes widened with the sudden realization of the words that had been just spoken to him. Yosugi Yashiro, a Lightning Prodigy from Kumogakure that was only fifteen years old; known for his mercy against his opponents and his unwillingness to kill unless in utmost necessity, which would most of the time, end in massacres if he chose to take a life. He sighed hard at what he realized that moment.

 

Today, he had seen the demon brat, Uzumaki Naruto wearing a Kumo headband, immobilize an ANBU with a Raiton jutsu he'd never seen before, and he refused to kill the aggressor when he had the rights to do it. The coincidences were too many to disregard the fact that there was now two ANBU and a Kumo Shinobi in his compound.

 

“Should I tell them to come at another time? The blond shinobi wishes to speak not only with you, but also with Hinata-sama and Neji-sama.”

 

“Blond?” He asked. “I guess that there are no questions about it.” He said with a frown on his face. “Lead them to the meeting room. We have much to discuss. Please send word to Neji and Hinata to meet us as soon as possible.

 

“Hai, Hiashi-sama, though we would only need to let Neji-sama know about this.” Shizuka said.

 

“And why is that?” Inquired Hiashi.

 

“Well, because Hinata-sama is one of the ANBU that is escorting the Kumo nin.” Responded Shizuka as a matter of fact-ish way. “I shall relay this message to Neji-san, though.” she said as she closed the door slowly and allowed her master to absorb all the information that he had just received.

 

After a few minutes, Hiashi sighed as he stood up and made his way towards the meeting room.

 

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A pair of lavender eyes stared intently at the back of the blond shinobi that was waiting inside of a large but simple room adorned only with the Leaf symbol on one of the walls, a table big enough for about six people and the respective kneeling mats. The veins bulging around the eyes signified that the Byakugan was activated. Long gone was the ANBU uniform and a pure white silk kimono adorned her slender figure. A pale lavender obi that was around her waist complemented her eyes and her shoulder length hair was picked up in a bun, held by two silver sticks with a blue crystal on the tips.

 

Her eyes closed as a memory rushed back into her mind….

 

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Flashback…

 

The torn earth underneath her feet was charred and smoking after the battle that had taken place on the border that connects the Land of Fire, Land of Rain and Land of Grass. Steam was leaking from the cracks on the heated ground. The marks of a shinobi battle ravaged the land, leaving only a single Konoha ANBU squad standing one side of the field, and a yellow-glowing Kumo nin on the other. Around and between the standing shinobi were charred or maimed corpses of Kusa nins. Tension still filled the air, mainly on behalf of the ANBU squad. The ferocity of the kumo nin was something to be feared, and seeing as how he was still not calmed down, their weapons were still drawn.

 

The wind blew swiftly as the battlefield cooled itself down from the heated battle that had just taken place on it. The four ANBU were looking at the Kumo nin, for unnatural cracks on his skin spewed a blue electric crackle on random occasions. His long blonde hair was loose and formed jagged patterns down his back. The nails on his hands and feet had grown longer and his teeth had become sharp. The whisker marks that were once covered by a torn face mask were deep and more alive in color. His once sapphire blue eyes became slitted and yellow.

 

In other words, he looked feral.

 

“Hotaru-sempai…” came the voice from a tiger-masked nin. “…how are we to proceed in this situation?” His hands still held his no-dachi, pointing slightly in the direction of the cloud's shinobi. “He resembles the Kyuubi brat that disappeared about nine years ago, but that demon had blue eyes, not yellow…” said the shinobi as he turned to face his bird-masked captain.

 

The captain briefly turned to look at the tiger ANBU. She in turned looked towards the kumo nin. “Lower your weapons…” She said in a low voice. “He is an ally of Konoha. I shall not stand to anyone threatening the new alliance between the Cloud and the Leaf. He has been the liaison between both the villages for the past four years. We don't want to cause a tear in the new founded loyalty between us.”

 

The tiger masked ANBU lowered his weapon slowly, as if questioning his captain's actions. Said action was not left unnoticed. `I shall have to make him understand why I am captain and not him once we return to Konoha…' she thought to herself. `…but first…'

 

“Yosugi Yashiro-san, the enemies have been taken care of. Why are you still releasing your killer inte….” In a flash, the blonde shinobi was upon her, not giving Hotaru a chance to react to his movement. His hand reached behind and roughly pushing her behind him as he jumped in front of what seemed to be tree leaves that were falling at an unusual fast rate.

 

The ANBU noticed the sudden movement on his behalf and quickly pulled out their weapons. As soon as they had, they felt the pain of being impaled and slashed by thousands upon thousands of razor sharp blades and a voice boomed in the tranquil environment: “Mokuton: Chiruochiba no Mai”. The wounds were fatal, as the majority of their cuts were located on the passages of the arteries with deep strikes and gashes to other vital organs.

 

They lifelessly limped to the ground while the barrage of leaves continued on its way to the remaining two shinobi. Hotaru was wide eyed under her mask. Tears threatened to flow underneath her mask, but she held them back.

She looked up to the feral shinobi that was in front of her. `He looks like Kiba-san when he uses his Shikyaku no Jutsu.'

Yosugi took the brunt of the attack. He held his own ground, preventing the jutsu to affect the prone shinobi. She in turn, was shocked on the speed of the jutsu. Her only reaction was to use her arms for cover and hope for the best.

 

The wind blew with the force of the jutsu, increasing the power of the razor sharp leaves. She had sensed the charka starting to wane and then completely halt, effectively ending the jutsu. She felt no pain whatsoever `….which means….' She quickly looked up to notice the unmoving shape of the Cloud shinobi.

 

Silence.

 

After a few seconds, he let his arms drop and hang to his side. He shifted the weight of his body to his front leg more than on his support leg. His head tilted slightly to the right, moving slowly towards the left as if in search for something. “Oy, I know you're hiding in the trees. Your stench is overwhelming.”

 

Silence ensued.

 

A smile appeared on Yashiro's face. “Well, if you don't want to come to me…….”

 

Where the last words that Hotaru heard. Instinctively, she activated her Kekkei Genkai and scanned the area. She managed to find the pair as Yashiro impaled the Kusa nin with the claws that had grown from his hands. His lips moved and she focused with her on what he was saying

 

“…Hinata-chan, Kusagakure will fall by my hands…..”

 

She gasped. Her mind raced. How did he know her identity? Why did he know her? Why did he call her Hinata-chan? Her head started hurting as long forgotten memories started rushing back to her. A blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheeks…blue eyes….him calling addressing her as Hinata-chan. She wanted to believe that the Kumo nin was him but…

 

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“HINATA-SAMA!”

 

Hinata was quickly pulled away from her reminiscing, only to be brought back to reality. Reality with her cousin in front her, his hand on her shoulder, and staring intently into her, trying to understand what she was doing. Hinata, on the other hand, was distant. She noticed her cousin there and simply smiled at him.

 

Long gone her nervous stutters and hand motions were, but she had turned distant. Broken as she had been since the passing of her mother, she strived to become the head of the house, only to be considered second best by her father. In turn, upon reaching Chunin and Jonin afterwards, she started taking more and more dangerous missions until she applied for ANBU and became captain shortly after. Her father never acknowledged her, so she felt that her life was worthless, never to become any better than what it already was.

 

Her status as an ANBU Captain had raised a couple of eyebrows inside the Hyuga Complex, being that they never expected such a weak shinobi as Hinata to be worthy of such a position, yet, the truth of the fact was that Hinata had always held back when attacking. Too afraid to hurt anyone else, she didn't want to have anyone go through the pain of loosing someone precious to them, like she lost her mother. Always afraid to cause other's suffering that she had suffered had always made her pulled her punches; until he met “Yashiro” for the first time during one of her Genin missions.

 

“Are you ready, Hinata-sama?” Asked the Hyuga prodigy.

“Hai, Neji-nii-san.” She responded.

 

Dressed in similar fashion to Hinata, with white robes and a black sash, both awaited the arrival of the Clan Head, which arrived promptly.

 

They approached the door for the Meeting Room. Hinata and Neji both reached for one of the doors and opened them. Hiashi walked in as the cousins walked past him and closed the doors behind them. They then walked behind Hiashi and waited for further instructions.

 

Yashiro immediately stood up when the doors opened and gave a sheepish smile the moment the clan figurehead walked in. He bowed to him as he walked passed him, obtaining a brow lift on behalf of the rest of the people that were present. Hiashi continued to walk towards the head of the table and gave the signal for Hinata and Neji to take a seat in their corresponding places, Hinata on his right and Neji to his left. It wasn't until the three had taken a seat that Yashiro raised himself from the bow and spoke.

 

Hiashi spent a good full minute gauging the blond shinobi that stood in front of him. He examined his posture, his breathing, his eyes, trying to sense nervousness; yet, he found the nin in front of him stoic and awaiting instructions. “State your business, Uzumaki Naruto.” He said with a smug grin. If he was planning to stay undercover, his cover had just been blown.

 

Sighing, Naruto proceeded to talk to the Hyuga's. “Hiashi-sama, Neji-sama…Hinata-ch…sama.” The stutter didn't go unnoticed, as the three Hyugas saw him flinch considerably when he was saying the future heir's name. He cleared his throat and continued on with his speech. “The reason for my presence here is to apologize greatly for the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuga Heiress, Hinata Hyuga, twelve years ago…” Everyone froze at the mentioning of the event. The Cloud's attempt to kidnap a three year old Hinata, only to be stopped by Hiashi and having to sacrifice his twin brother for the sake of the clan was something that had always been a sore spot for the proud Konoha clan. Naruto noticed the flinch in Hiashi's demeanor and noticed that Hinata stopped looking at him, while Neji glared with hatred in his eyes and his killer intent focusing on him. “…I come here with an offer…” he said as he slowly raised his left hand to slightly above his head and then pointed into one of his pockets. Instinctively, the three Hyugas activated their Byakugan and focused on the point where his right hand started reaching. It stopped on a scroll and in turned pulled it out. He showed it to the three and placed it on the table. Multiple seals were placed on the green and red scroll. Several were traps, while one was a blood seal. “You have no idea what it took me to convince the Raikage to allow me to present this to you as my own personal means of asking for your forgiveness in behalf of my village, but please understand, that when you unseal this scroll, you have to do it in sacred ground. Like the Hyuga's Graveyard.”

 

The three raised their eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. “What could you possibly give Hiashi-sama that he would think about the forgiveness of Kumo's betrayal?” asked Neji. His voice tainted with poison and hatred.

 

Naruto looked at him and lowered his face. Their Byakugan still active did not fail to notice the tears that started forming in Naruto's eyes. “I don't have physical scars…” he slowly raised his head and showed them a sheepish smile. A genuine smile. “…yet, I had to endure severe punishment for retrieving that which I am giving you. I never knew what it feels like to lose a brother…” he paused. He looked at the scroll for a couple of seconds before raising his eyes to the clan figure head. “…this scroll, not only contains my blood, but part of Hinata-sama's.”

 

Hiashi immediately stood up enraged. His Byakugan fully activated, ready to attack the one who was claiming to have taken Hyuga Blood to make a seal. “EXPLAIN YOURSELF, BEFORE I AM FORCED TO SEND YOU TO A PREMATURE GRAVE, CLOUD SCUM!” Was Hiashi's response. Both Neji and Hinata were also standing in their advance JÅ«ken stances. Hinata's mind was racing, trying to remember when he took her blood. `The only possible time…the battle against the Grass nins!'

 

“Please, Hiashi-sama. The only reason the scroll has her blood is so that only your blood can open this scroll.” Naruto, in turn, bit his thumb and smeared some of his blood on one of the seals of the scroll. “…Hiashi-sama, Hinata-sama, Neji-sama. In this scroll is something I paid with my flesh and blood. I return to you, that which is precious to you, Neji-sama and to you, Hiashi-sama. As I said before, I don't know the pain of loosing a brother, but at least…” he said with a voice that sounded like it was about to crack. “…allow me the opportunity to see how it feels to have a brother returned to his family….”

 

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Mokuton: Chiruochiba no Mai: Wood Release: Dance of the Falling Leaves

Shikyaku no Jutsu: Beast Mimicry Technique

 

 

A/N: Another chapter completed after more than a month. Things have been a bit hectic around this part of town. Houston likes to make things difficult for working people, but hey, at least I could still upload this.

 

Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to kai28. If it hadn't been for the few words that he left me, I wouldn't have been inspired to finish this chapter. Thanks a lot man.

 

I'm still in the need of a beta. If someone is interested, please let me know.

 

Seilif out.